The Agent
by Thomas Mc
Summary: Secret Service Agent Scott Myers was standing his post, guarding the President during his opening statements at the UN Anti-terrorist debate when all hell broke loose. He soon finds himself continually crossing paths with the Creatures of Central Park.
1. The Foiled Plot

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>**  
><strong>

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><p><em><strong>Note<strong>__: Secret Service Agent Scott Myers finds himself continually crossing paths with the Wells-Chandlers. Soon the higher ups in the Secret Service develop an increasing interest in Alexander and his leonine relatives. This story is set during the same time frame as the stories 'Alexander' and 'Dating An Urban Legend' but examines the events from a different viewpoint.  
><em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: The Foiled Plot<strong>

**January 2067**

Agent Scott Myers stood his assigned post his nerves were drawn to a fine edge as he tried to keep himself ready for the unexpected. Though he was relatively new to the Secret Service he had risen through the ranks very quickly and now he was the youngest agent to make the Presidential Security detail. He took his responsibility very seriously, which is one of the reasons he had risen in the ranks so quickly and for the last three years he had consciously protected President Carlton from anyone who might try to do him harm. This current assignment was a particularly tricky and unsettling situation.

The President was opening the anti-terrorism session of the UN General Assembly. This event had been well known for over a month and the chatter picked up on the various communication networks led to the conclusion that the terrorists were planning something big for today. Much of the available intelligence suggested that one or more of the delegates to the conference could be involved but, unfortunately, every delegate in the room had diplomatic immunity. Despite the warnings of danger and the urgings of some of his advisors, President Carton had refused to back down. The special session would go on as planned and President Jerry Carlton would be there to open this very unusual and historic General Assembly session.

All in all it was a bad situation that was ripe for disaster.

The prominent delegate and current leader from one of the more prominent Middle East nations had just finished his rather lengthy introduction of the President when Scott's team leader spoke over the radio and cautioned his team to be on their toes.

As President Jerry Carlton moved toward the podium Scott and his team leader took up flanking positions. The President had no sooner reached the podium than someone stood up in the middle of the General Assembly floor and began spouting unintelligible gibberish at the top of his lungs. He was also holding up some type of mechanism above his head. Immediately Scott and his supervisor moved in closer to defend the President from the threat as they scanned the crowd.

Scott caught some unusual movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see a figure swinging down from just to the left of directly overhead on the end of what appeared to be one of the temporary Video broadcast cables. The intruder collided with the disruptive delegate and they both disappeared from view as they tumbling across the floor. Scott clearly heard the words, "**BOMB . . . EMPIRE STATE . . . RADIO TRIGGER**!" called out by the intruder over the panicked chatter of the rest of the delegates.

As he watched in surprise a second delegate ran up and began shooting into the two men struggling on the ground. How the hell had he gotten a gun in through the very tight security? Then the second attacker was shot down by several guards. His attention was again distracted by another swift movement close by. As he moved in to shield the President, shots rang out nearby and Scott and his supervisor both dove in front of the president to protect him from this new threat. Scott saw his supervisor go down as he rushed to get the President out of harm's way. Time seemed to stretch out as the sounds of panic seemed to recede into the distance. Two more of his fellow agents joined him as he hustled the president off of the podium. The sounds of gunshots also seemed to fade into the muffled background and the only thing that mattered was the President. Scott saw the President's head jerk at the same time that he felt a sting to the side of his neck. Then he shifted position to place himself more directly between the President and the sources of the shots behind them. Again he felt a sharp pain, this time on his thigh. He and his two fellow agents quickly hustled President Carlton towards the nearest exit.

As they moved down the hallway past the exit doors Scott quickly scanned the President assessing his condition. Despite the obvious blood along the side of his head, President Carlton appeared to be little more than slightly dazed. Scott keyed his communicator. "This is Ajax Two. The Eagle is injured. I repeat, the Eagle is injured. We're heading out the west emergency exit. Alert the hospital that we are on our way." He could feel the pain in his thigh getting worse and knew it was slowing him down just a bit. He was thinking that he had to get the President out of here before his own wounds left him too disabled to do his job.

~ o ~

As the ambulance pulled away from the UN building Agent Scott Myers finally had time to assess the situation. He had three bullet wounds; one in the neck, one in the upper thigh and one in the left arm. None of them appeared to be life threatening though he knew that they could slow him down if he didn't stop the bleeding. He had seen his team leader go down and suspected that his wound had been fatal. The other two agents appeared unhurt. The president however had been hit and Scott refused the paramedics initial attempt to treat himself, insisting that they concentrate their efforts on the President. There was a bloody wound on the right side of the President's head and he appeared dazed. There was also a lot of blood down the right side of his shirt and on his left sleeve. The paramedic was quickly checking the President over to determine the extent of his injuries. As they got closer to the hospital President Carlton began to recover from the stunned daze he had been in.

Once the paramedic had assured himself that the president's injury was not life threatening and the bleeding under control, he turned his attention to the wounded Secret Service agent. The agent had already begun working to get his own bleeding under control. His injuries were far worse than the president's and the wound on his neck continued to bleed despite his attempts to stem the flow however rate of blood loss didn't appear to be life threatening at present and the agent kept insisting that the President's welfare must take precedence. A few quick bandages and he turned his attention back to the president, checking his vitals though he continued to keep a wary eye on the injured agent.

When they arrived at the hospital they wanted to take President Carlton and Agent Scott into the building on gurneys. The President, however, had spotted a camera crew standing near the hospital entrance and refused, insisting on entering the hospital under his own steam. The bleeding of the wound in Scott's neck had not stopped and he was beginning to feel drained but the death of his team leader had left him in charge. Scott Myers was not about to abandon his post over a few minor wounds so he also refused the gurney. They were immediately rushed over to the first emergency treatment room. The doctors did a quick deep scan of the Presidents head and found that, other than a mild concussion, there had been no serious damage to his skull or brain. One bullet had grazed The President's skull the other had gone clean through his left arm halfway between his elbow and his shoulder. The physicians and staff that attended to them were very professional.

Scott's injuries turned out to be more serious than President Carlton's. The bullet that had hit Scott's neck had grazed the artery and the doctor had to perform a quick emergency procedure to repair the still minor damage before the weakened artery could burst. The procedure itself, though serious, was fairly simple and, under Scott's insistence, done under a local anesthetic. Until he was relieved, Scott felt that he must remain alert and aware.

As the doctors were treating them, Scott and President Jerry Carlton watched the video screen intently as it replayed the entire incident in the UN. The doctor had just finished treating the President's head wound and had started on his arm, when the video image zoomed in on someone being loaded onto the litter in the middle of the General Assembly floor. Scott gazed at the video screen in astonished disbelief. The figure in the litter did not appear to be human. It looked more than anything like some kind of fantastic lion-man. Its hands, crossed below the slowly spreading blood stain, were covered in fur and its fingers ended, not in nails, but in very dangerous looking claws. Even critically injured and possibly dying, there was something powerfully, dangerously primal about its appearance.

"Good Lord, what **is** that?" President Jerry Carlton blurted out.

The doctor that had been treating him glanced at the screen for a moment. "It looks like Broadway Leo." He replied, shrugging as he turned his attention back to the wound in President Carlton's arm.

"What?' Scott asked as he tried to process the image on the screen.

One of the other doctors treating Scott replied. "That's the name the media gave to the 'Creature of Central Park'. I always thought it was just another urban legend, like alligators in the sewers or the Lady of the Brooklyn Bridge." He shook his head. "I remember when I was a kid back in '41 there was a sighting in Central Park by a bunch of college kids. The furor from that lasted over two years before it finally died down. That's when the radio stations gave it that name."

The doctor had finished with Scott's neck and they had moved on to remove the bullet from his thigh. Scott was so engrossed in the image on the screen that he barely noticed.

The President and Scott were both quickly and efficiently treated then they were taken up to the third floor. The orderlies tried to take Scott and the President into separate rooms. Though he was hampered by a significant limp and blood loss, Scott still refused to leave his assigned post until he had been officially relieved. The President approved and the doctor that had accompanied them relented, allowing Scott to accompany the President. Scott continued to order the rest of his team of agents, making sure that there was adequate protection for President Carlton. Next he made sure that the First Lady was notified of the President's condition. Finally he contacted his superior in the Secret Service to give his preliminary report.

~ o ~

President Jerry Carlton sat propped up in his hospital bed watching the video monitor as the doctor was checking him over. Scott also kept an eye on the video as he went about organizing his fellow agents. The news on the video was all about the miraculous appearance of the Creature of Central Park who had foiled the terrorist plot to blow up the Empire State Building. The announcer reported that the creature had been shot several times during the confrontation and rushed to Saint Vincent Hospital where its condition was unknown. The same video of the incident inside the UN was running in the background.

That report got Scott's immediate attention. That creature was here, in this hospital? The newsman went on to report that one Secret Service agent had been killed and another wounded. Finally the background video showed President Carlton and Scott walking from the ambulance into the hospital as the News Caster reported that the President of the United States had also been shot during the incident but his injuries were reported to be non life threatening. Scott thought that it was strange that the president was mentioned last.

"Such are the vaguarities of politics and the public." President Carlton remarked to Scott. "I'm nearly assassinated and that creature gets the lion's share," He gave a quick snort of a laugh, "pardon the pun, of the press."

Scott unobtrusively rolled his eyes and smiled. The first time he had heard the President use the word 'vaguarities', nearly three years ago, he had tried to look it up. It didn't exist. This was not the first time he had heard President Carlton create words out of thin air. The political cartoonists often had a lot of fun with it, though the created words often were very effective in getting his point across and this particular word had actually appeared in the latest edition of Webster's Dictionary. Scott's English professor father had nearly blown his top over that.

President Carlton looked over at the doctor attending him. "Has anyone heard how it's doing?" He indicated the image of the creature once again being displayed on the video.

"All I've heard is that he is still alive." The doctor shrugged. "I understand that Doctor Peterson is attending to him. He's the very best ER guy we've got."

Their attention was drawn to the video as it announced a bulletin on the President and the Creature. ". . . President Jerry Carlton and the Creature of Central Park, also known as Broadway Leo, are both currently at Saint Vincent Hospital. The President's condition is listed as satisfactory. An inside source informs us that the Creature's condition is critical. We will continue to update you as new information comes in . . ." The doctor suggested to President Carlton that it was getting late and he should get some rest then he left. He also suggested that Scott needed to get some rest as well. The hospital staff had arranged for Scott to have the room directly across the hall from the Presidents room. Reluctantly Scott finally ceded control to the Team Leader of the agents that had just arrived and let the doctor lead him to the next room and give him a sedative.

As soon as the doctor left Scott's room he contacted the home office, identified himself and his temporary bounce to team leader then he told them that he wanted everything that they could find on the Central Park Creature urban legend as well as whatever they could get on the men that staged the attack at the UN. He also wanted a complete report on the Empire State Building bomb. He wanted it all in his hands by tomorrow morning. He was informed that the head of the Secret Service, the head of Homeland Security, and the President had also made the same request.

As Scott lay in his bed he kept going over in his mind what had happened. Two questions kept plaguing him. How had they gotten guns into UN? What was that creature and where had it come from? It occurred to him that if that creature was here in this hospital he should assign a couple of agents to keep an eye on it. If it survived, his superiors were going to want to find out what it was, what it knew and what its intentions were. He also suspected that it wouldn't be too long before the military, the NSA and the department of Science took an interest in that creature as well. He would look into it tomorrow morning. Right now he could feel the sedative beginning to take effect and surrendered to the pull of much needed sleep.

~ x x x x x ~

When Scott awoke the next morning he was feeling much better and, though his neck felt a bit stiff, his limp was much less noticeable. Another agent from his team handed him a folder that contained the information he had requested including what was currently known about the terrorists' plot and the bomb that had been found in the Empire State Building. It had been a fully functional nuclear bomb and the terrorist that the 'Creature' had tackled had been carrying the radio trigger. The seriousness of the situation and the description of how close it had come to total disaster sent a cold chill down his spine.

Apparently that, so called, Creature of Central Park had, quite literally, saved New York City and most of the leaders of the world from total annihilation. One item in the report that gave him pause and sent shivers up his spine was the description of four dead terrorists found in the basement of the Empire State Building. They had every appearance of having been mauled by some very large cat or . . . 'lion'. Scot again thought back to the pictures of that creature with his deadly looking claws being carried out of the UN General Assembly. There was also some information about a girl named Alexandra that had actually found and reported the location of the bomb. Scott wondered if there was a connection between that girl and that creature as he set aside the report and headed across the hall.

Scott entered the President's room and took command of the guard detail. He was informed that the First Family had arrived late last night and was currently down in the lunchroom having breakfast. President Carlton was awake and watching the video. Scott noticed a duplicate of the report he had just read on the President's bedside table.

The news on the video was still all about the incredible events of yesterday. The announcer was talking about the public reactions and opinions over what had happened. Over all, based on a poll taken last night, opinions about the creature ran about 70% pro. They had also stated that the creature's condition had been upgraded to 'serious'. Scott was surprised. He would have sworn based on what he had seen on the video images of the creature being carried from the General Assembly floor that the wounds had been fatal.

President Carlton turned up the volume to hear what the reporter on the scene at the Empire State Building was saying. ". . . This just in. The bomb located at the top of this historic building has been described by a source as being a fifty megaton nuclear device. It now appears that the entire city of New York owes a huge debt of gratitude to Broadway Leo . . ."

"It was twenty megaton, moron." President Carlton muttered under his breath.

Scott had to smother a laugh. He knew that President Carlton had never liked that particular reporter.

The announcer continued to rehash the events of yesterday with the added emphasis on how truly serious the situation had actually been. They even included a map on the upper right corner of the screen showing the projected areas of destruction had the bomb gone off, while at the same time replaying the video of the creature's miraculous intervention. As he watched the video again the thing that struck Scott was how incredibly agile and strong that creature had to be in order to do what he had done.

"At least your map is accurate." President Carlton groused as he shook his head. The map on the screen was identical to the one in the report Scott had read. President Carlton looked up at Scott and continued, "I wonder where they got their information."

Scott shrugged his shoulders but he decided that he would see about finding out who had leaked to the news.

After a few seconds a text crawl passed across the bottom of the screen ". . . Instant Public opinion poll (90% pro Broadway Leo, 5% against and 5% undecided) . . ." Next they showed a view of all of the News crews camped out all around the hospital and restated what was currently known about the condition of the President and Broadway Leo. Scott did not like the situation. All that confusion around the hospital would make it too easy for an assassin to slip into the hospital unnoticed.

The doctor made some marks on a chart. "Everything's fine Mr. President. I will be releasing you to your own physician's care after lunch and you should be able to go home tomorrow morning if he approves."

President Carlton nodded. "Thank you, Doctor, for the excellent care you have given to me and Agent Myers." He waved in Scott's general direction.

Scott was distracted when he got a quick report over his communications unit. He thought that this aught to be interesting as he shifted his attention over to the hospital room door just as the Science Adviser stormed into the President's hospital room.

"I wondered how long it would be before you would show." President Carlton remarked with just a hint of annoyance.

The Science Adviser immediately started ranting. "We have to get that creature to a secure location immediately so that we can properly study it."

Scott had never liked the President's Science Adviser but it wasn't his place to approve or disapprove so he kept his opinions to himself. In this case however he sincerely hoped that someone else would express a dissenting opinion.

Then the Public Policy Adviser, who had been sitting quietly over in the corner spoke up. "I would definitely advise against it, Mr. President. That creature is very much in the public eye and very popular right now and you have elections coming up." The policy adviser faced the Science Adviser ready to defend his position. Those two had often ended up on opposite sides of many a policy debate.

Scott silently cheered to himself. He didn't particularly like the idea of the unknown factor that was presented by having that potentially dangerous creature in the same hospital as the President, but he certainly didn't like thinking about what that Science Adviser might have in store for it. That creature definitely presented a thorny problem on many different levels. He suspected that President Jerry Carlton would choose the side of compassion given half a chance.

The Science Adviser jumped in. "That thing is an important scientific discovery. Biologically it could be invaluable. We have to get it out of this hospital and into a secure laboratory, quickly, before others can interfere." He glared at the Public Policy Adviser. "I've already lost precious time arguing with those fools guarding that thing and then trying to get past your over zealous SS guards."

That got Scott's attention. Who could it be that was guarding that creature? Apparently they were sufficient enough to balk the Science Advisers plans. At that moment he was startled when the Political Adviser burst into the room, stared daggers at the Science Adviser, then addressed the President. "Is it true?" He asked as he glared again at the Science Adviser.

"Is what true?" The President asked.

The Political Adviser reached over and turned up the volume on the video monitor. ". . . that even while the heroic savior of New York City fights for his life in the hospital, the President's Department of Science wants to spirit him off to some secret place where they can dissect him . . ." He turned the volume back down. Everyone in the room looked at each other in stunned surprise. Scott was thinking with no little satisfaction that someone had certainly set the fox among the chickens. Soon a heated argument was engaged. After about ten minutes the Public Policy Adviser drew their attention back to the video. The text crawl at the bottom of the screen displayed dire news. ". . . Latest instant public opinion poll – Support for President Jerry Carlton (12% positive) – Support for Broadway Leo (93% positive) . . ." President Carlton glanced around at his advisers in surprise. His popularity had dropped 60% within minutes of the reports of the Science Department story. It was obvious that the President was not happy over the political damage that the Science Adviser's precipitous actions had caused.

President Carlton addressed the Science Adviser, his displeasure, though unspoken, was evident in his face and in the tone of his voice. "You are to maintain a strictly hands off policy where that creature is concerned until we have a more complete picture of the situation." He caught and held the man's gaze. "Is that understood?"

Scott was silently applauding the President's decision; he had always liked President Carlton's style of command. In the last three years he had shown a strength of command that was surprising. The big United Nations Conference on World Terrorism that President Carlton had organized was a good example of his take charge attitude.

At that point the First Lady and her daughter entered the room. The First Lady, Helen, was quite literally staring 'very pointed daggers' at the Science Adviser as the President's six year old daughter, Sandra, ran up to President (and father) Jerry Carlton. "Daddy you won't let them hurt him will you?" His daughter pleaded as she grabbed his hand. Scott had to smother a desire to laugh.

Jerry Carlton, the caring father and husband that Scott had come to respect, looked at his wife then at his daughter. "No honey, I won't let anyone hurt him." President Jerry Carlton looked at the Science Adviser. "If you want information about the creature," He paused shaking his head. "I really need a better name for it than 'The Creature' or 'Broadway Leo'," He paused looking at his Science Adviser. "As I was saying, if you want information, talk to his doctor. Otherwise it's hands off." President Carlton held the resistant Science Adviser's gaze for several moments.

Barely suppressing his annoyance, the Science Adviser finally nodded and left the room without a word. Helen watched him leave then joined her daughter at her husband's bedside. Sandra clambered up into her fathers lap as he turned up the volume on the video.

". . . cent Hospital has become surrounded by thousands of New Yorkers demanding that the government leave their hero alone. As of yet there has been no response from the President or the Whitehouse on this latest development. The only thing that is currently known is that the President's Science Adviser arrived at the hospital about an hour and a half ago . . ."

Jerry Carlton turned the volume back down and turned to his Policy Adviser. "I want you to arrange a quick press conference. Only one Camera crew and two reporters will be allowed. Let the media chose their representatives among themselves. Let me know when everything is ready."

At that moment President Carlton's personal secure phone signaled. It was the Pentagon. Now they wanted to get their hands on the creature. They were arguing strategic necessity and super soldier. After a few rather tense words he gave them the same orders that he had given the Science Adviser. "Hands off!"

_**Continued in Part 2**_

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><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	2. The Creature

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: The Creature<strong>

Agent Scott Myers was busily arranging for the extra guard detail necessary for the impromptu presidential news conference. He had to re arrange a few schedules and call in a few extra agents that were not supposed to work that day. His mind was a whirl of schedules and logistics. At least this end of the hospital wing was fairly easy to secure.

The President's daughter, who was still sitting in her father's lap, spoke up at this point. "Daddy, can I meet him?" She stared pleadingly into her father's eyes. "Pleeeeaasse, Daddy."

Scott's attention immediately diverted by the words and the tone of little Sandra's voice. Scott had seen this scenario play itself out before. Little Sandra was an expert at wheedling things out of her father. Fortunately, though she was shameless when she used it, she didn't try that tactic very often and he had never seen her try throwing a temper tantrum. If the wheedling failed she would give up though she might pout just a little. He had to smother a chuckle as an image of the Science Adviser trying the same routine passed through his mind. Then he caught the barely concealed flicker of a grin on the First Lady's face and wondered if the same thought had passed through her mind.

Then the President's wife spoke softly as she looked into her husband's eyes. "Jerry, I think I would also like to see this . . . um 'creature', too . . . if it is possible." She placed her hand over his.

Scott rolled his eyes at the blatant ploys and wheedling tones of both females. As strong and steadfast as President Carlton was, Scott doubted if any husband and father could stand against that type of pressure for very long.

Scott had to admit that he was also interested in seeing this creature for himself. Also he was curious about who it was that was guarding it, even from the President's Science Adviser. At the same time he was unsure about the wisdom of such a visit without further serious investigation of this mysterious creature. There was so much unknown about it. What was it? Where had it come from? Just how dangerous was it?

President Carlton looked back and forth between the faces of his wife and daughter for a couple of seconds then finally he responded. "If you're sure this is what you want?"

"Yes." Both females replied simultaneously.

President Carlton nodded once then addressed his Policy Adviser. "Go find . . ." He paused and shook his head. "I don't know what to call him, Broadway Leo, The Creature of Central Park, The lion-man . . . Harry . . ." He shrugged as his daughter giggled. "Anyway speak to his doctor and ask if it is allowed visitors and would it be alright for the President's family to visit . . . the creature."

'Oh, great!' Scott thought to himself. It looked like President Carlton actually intended to try to see that creature today if possible. Scott immediately got onto his communications unit in a rush effort to made sure that there would be enough agents available on standby. He would need to call all of them in to provide adequate protection for the First Family should they actually get the OK from the doctor to visit the creature. His brow furrowed as he tried to anticipate all possible scenarios and plan possible actions in response on very short notice. Considering how seriously the creature had been wounded Scott figured that the danger should be minimal but it didn't hurt to be prepared. The actions of that creature in the UN had shown an impressive strength and agility, and somewhere in the back of Scott's mind was the image of the four dead terrorists in that bloody basement

Scott had just finished getting his team reorganized an hour later the Policy Adviser returned. "Doctor Peterson has approved your visit." He paused a moment then continued. "Also I found out that the creature is being guarded by a detail of police officers from the New York Police Department ordered out by the Mayor, as well as by some of our own Q-Branch agents." He shrugged. "Apparently, it was the head of Q-Branch that ordered out the agent and he is currently out of contact."

Now **that** was a surprising development. Scott knew a little bit about Q-Branch, they had been the covert front lines in America's war against terrorism since shortly after the 9-11 attacks. On paper, Q-Branch supposedly was a confidential records keeping office, funded by and operated out of the State Department but, in reality, the head of Q-Branch, a man named Alan Stetson, actually reported directly to the head of Homeland Security, who reported directly to the President. That group was also the source of the report he had read this morning. But who had ordered them to protect the creature?

As Scott preceded the First family out the door of the hospital room, he felt a sharp pain shoot up his leg from the gunshot wound. The doctor had told him to stay off that leg as much as possible but he stubbornly refused to relinquish his responsibility to protect the President and his family. Scott leaned against the door frame letting the others pass through while the twinge subsided. After everyone had left the room, Scott pushed himself away from the door frame, trying hard to hide any signs of pain or a limp, and continued down the hallway with the President's entourage.

President Carton and his family, escorted by Scott and his hand chosen Secret Service team, headed for the creature's room which turned out to be at the opposite corner of the same floor. As they proceeded down the hallway Scott was able to successfully sublimate the discomfort of the wound on his leg while constantly scanning the surroundings. This open hallway with its many unsecured doorways on either side was a particularly vulnerable situation. As they turned the corner Scott saw a doctor and another man rush into what he suspected was the creature's room at the far end of the hallway. There were two New York police officers and two plain clothes men guarding that end of the hallway. By their attitude and demeanor Scott suspected that the two plainclothes men were Q-Branch.

As they continued down the long corridor toward that room, the police officers and the plainclothes men all jumped to attention as they saw the President approaching. One of them opened the door and said something to someone inside. President Carlton stopped when he reached the nearest police officer just as one of the men, that had run in with the doctor, came out of the room. "Is this a bad time?" President Carlton asked the man as he approached.

The man smiled and bobbed his head then spoke. "Mister President, Alexander has just awoken and Doctor Peterson said to tell you that your visit is most welcome." Scott was momentarily confused. Wasn't that the name of the girl that found the bomb? President Carlton spoke up asking the very same question that had just gone through Scott's mind.

Scott was startled by a voice coming from behind him. "Actually, Mister President." Scott turned to see the man that had just spoken approaching displaying his credentials. "Alexan**dra** is the name of the woman that found the bomb. Alexan**der** is the name of the one in that room that stopped the terrorist from setting it off." He nodded with a bit of a shrug thrown in. "It **can** be a bit confusing."

So the creature had a name. As Scott moved to prevent this new man's closer approach he wondered about the similarity in the names of the creature and the girl.

"And you are?" President Carlton inquired.

"Alan Stetson, head of Q-Branch." The new arrival replied as Scott examined the man's ID. It was valid. "I sent you the report this morning about Alexan**dra**'s part in this." The man paused as Scott returned his ID. "Also I just got a report that they have successfully disabled the motion sensors on the bomb and we are in the process of removing it to a safe location for detonation." Scott released the tension in his body. So this was the elusive Alan Stetson. He recognized the name as the head of Q-Branch, though he had never met the man in person.

"You can't just disarm it?" President Carlton asked.

The man, identified as Alan Stetson, related the difficulties involved. They were substantial. He just hoped they were successful in removing the bomb to a safe location without accidentally triggering one of the fail-safe systems.

President Carlton listened intently as Alan explained the problems then after a moment nodded his head once acknowledging the information then his face lightened as he moved on to other pressing situations. "Well, then, let us meet . . . Alexander . . . and express our thanks." He remarked as he started forward while indicated to the Secret Service agents to let Alan pass.

"Alexander and Alexandra . . . Are they related?" The First Lady Helen asked, her curiosity peaked.

"Not yet, Ma'am." Alan replied then smiled. "But I have been informed that they recently became engaged." Jerry and Helen both stared at Alan in surprise. Sandra giggled. Scott stared at Alan in surprise as well. Alexandra was a female creature? The report had said nothing about that.

As they entered the room Scott quickly scanned it taking in everything, evaluating, judging potential threats. There was a male and a female police officer and the doctor over near the bed. There was a male and a female in plain clothes, probably Q-Branch, standing over by the other empty bed. Scott turned his attention to the occupied bed. Despite his condition, the creature . . . Alexander . . . still managed to give off an air of nobility, and the sheet covering him could not conceal the massive powerful body beneath it. The bed had been raised so that Alexander was sitting in a semi-reclined position. Scott was relieved when he noticed that Alexander's hands were heavily wrapped in a thick layer of gauze padding. Those claws had been a source of worry to him since this visit had been initiated. Especially considering what this morning's report had said about the four dead terrorists. There was really no doubt that it had to have been this creature's handiwork. As he got closer he could see a combination of respect and uncertainty in Alexander's surprisingly human eyes. It was suddenly getting harder to think of him as just 'the creature'. He also looked younger than Scott had expected.

Sandra suddenly scooted out in front and marched right up to Alexander before anyone could react to stop her. She stared up at Alexander with the curiosity and innocence of a child. Scott stood momentarily rooted to the spot, his heart in his throat, torn between trying to grab the girl before she could come to harm and holding his ground next to the President and praying the creature would not harm her. Alexander looked down at her with a half smile, then looked up at The President as they finally approached the side of his bed. Scott saw no menace in those surprisingly human eyes, only humor, open respect and a hint of worry.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Alexander remarked. "I'm glad that you are OK." Scott was astounded at the raw masculine power behind that voice yet there was a gentle spirit to it as well. "Did they find the bomb?" Scott also noticed something in the eyes of the three women in the room. That voice must touch something deep inside them as well.

Then little Sandra turned to face her father and spoke up. "I like the monster Daddy."

Scott felt a moment of awkward embarrassment for the child's words then into the silence, the 'monster' in question began to chuckle. He addressed Sandra with a smile. "And I like you too, young lady." He paused. "And you may call me Alexander or Alex if you wish." When he had smiled Scott had spotted two very long and very sharp fangs peeking out. Then when Alexander had spoken Scott caught a glimpse of all four fangs. This 'Creature of Central Park', or Alexander as he called himself, seemed to be all raw power mixed with an impressive assortment of natural weapons.

Alan spoke up. "Yes we found the bomb thanks to Alexandra. She called Clarissa to tell us where it was."

Alexander gave a sigh of relief and visibly relaxed at that news.

The next instant everyone's attention was drawn to the video monitor by the plain-clothes-woman's quietly surprised words, "Will ya look at that." As she pointed to the screen.

Scott's jaw would have hit the floor if it could have. On the screen a small knot of people could be seen slowly trying to make their way through the crowd that surrounded the hospital. The most startling aspect of that group was the two tallest figures. They both exhibited the same leonine features as Alexander. Doctor Peterson turned up the volume and the very pretty redheaded woman standing next to one of the tall leonine figures called out. "Please, let us through. We're just here to see our son."

That beautiful woman was his mother?

A second very pretty black haired young woman with a white bandage around her neck spoke up, "I'm here to be with my fiancé."

A reporter called out. "Fiancé? But, that monster's not human. If you had children they could end up looking just like it."

Scott had been thinking the very same thing and was a bit ashamed of thinking it after hearing the words spoken aloud.

The young girl's response surprised him. "God I hope so. I would love to fill my house with little boys that look just like their father. And there is a lot more humanity in him than in you leaches that call him a monster." She replied with a ring of pride in her voice.

Scott glanced over at Alexander and swore that he could see him blushing through the thin fuzz on his face.

Several in the crowd cheered at her response as several other reporters started shouting questions about her relationship. Then they saw the police moving in to restrain and control the situation.

The idea of two more of those creatures with their size strength and deadly claws in the same room as the President made Scott's blood run cold as he thought through the possibilities. He voiced his reservation. "Sir we cannot allow this. They must be stopped before they reach this room." He began desperately trying to figure out how to protect the President under the changing circumstances.

Helen turned and addressed Alexander. "Is that really your family?"

"Yes ma'am. That is my family and my fiancé." Alexander replied, surprise in his voice and in his eyes.

The First Lady glanced at Scott then turned to her husband. "Jerry it's up to you."

President Carlton thought for a moment then addressed Alan. "Send someone down to meet them and escort them back up here." He glanced over at his wife. "I think we would like to meet this family."

Alan responded. "Yes sir." Then he turned to the female Q-Branch agent. "Rachel, take two officers from the break room and go down and meet Alexander's family in the lobby. Bring them straight up to this room and they are to be treated as guests."

"Yes sir." She replied and left the room.

The police lieutenant in the room pulled out his cell phone and gave instructions to another officer to be sure that the family made it through the crowd and into the hospital safely. This was happening too fast and it had Scott worried. There were too many new variables being introduced too quickly. "Sir I still recommend against this." Scott remarked worriedly to the President.

President Carlton gazed back at Scott for a moment then replied. "Your recommendation is duly noted and your dedication is appreciated Agent Myers. But I still intend to meet these people."

Alan spoke up. "Sir, the young lady with the bandage around her neck, that identified herself as his fiancé, is Alexandra, the one that found the bomb."

"That's right sir." Alexander spoke up. "She told me about the bomb and another friend led me to a place where we overheard others talking about the guy in the UN General Assembly with the trigger. I had no time to tell anyone. That's why I was there at the UN. As it was, I almost didn't make it in time."

Scott looked at the dark haired girl on the screen with new respect. If that bandage around her neck was any indication, she had risked a lot to help save the city and his President.

President Carlton asked Alexander. "What happened to your hands?"

Scott had been wondering the same thing and turned his attention back to Alexander.

Alexander shrugged as he glanced at his hands. "Actually Doctor Peterson told me that I started flailing around in the ambulance and they did this so I wouldn't hurt anyone with my claws." He shrugged. "I'm afraid they are pretty sharp." He gave another of his half smiles. "With so many people around that don't know me, it seemed prudent to leave them on for everyone's peace of mind."

President Carlton turned to the doctor. "I think we can have those bandages removed, don't you."

"If you think your Secret Service men won't mind." Doctor Peterson looked directly at Scott as he continued. "Alexander isn't kidding when he says they are **very** sharp." Scott again remembered the image of Alexander being carried out of the UN and the report on the four dead terrorists in the Empire State Building's basement. The thought of what those claws could do worried him.

"He risked **everything** to save us all yesterday." Scott opened his mouth to object but President Carlton held up his hand to forestall him as he continued. "I think we can chance it." Scott reluctantly held his peace. It was, after all, the President's decision. All he could do was try his best to protect the President and his family if things went badly.

Scott noticed Alexander had started looking around the room a slightly puzzled expression beginning to creep across his face, as the doctor was removing the bandages. Alexander glanced at the First Lady then blinked and stared back at her, his brow's riding up his forehead. Scott was amazed at how humanly expressive his inhuman face could be. Alexander leaned over and whispered something to the doctor which caused a surprised look to pass across his face as well.

The Doctor took a step back from the bed and Alexander held up his now uncovered hands. "Like I said, they are sharp." He remarked with an almost apologetic shrug.

Scott looked at the displayed claws in shocked surprise. They looked even more dangerous seen this close. The description of the four dead terrorists again popped into his mind. He just couldn't get rid of that horrifying image.

President Carlton remarked. "I suspected as much, based on the reports on those four terrorists you took out. The news images of you from the UN don't really do them justice."

Alexander looked down at his hands. "I should feel sorry about what I did to them but I really don't regret it . . ." He looked up, regret mingled with determination clearly showing on his surprisingly expressive un-human face. "They were about to kill Alex and I had no time to be . . . diplomatic." He looked at the video screen. "I still would have been too late if she hadn't deflected the knife at the last instant."

Scott noticed that a shiver passed through Alexander that matched the one that passed through him as he glanced back at the video and the white bandage with its clearly visible red stain around Alexandra's neck. Scott glanced over and saw similar reactions pass through the others in the room.

The doctor approached the First Lady. "Mrs. Carlton, may I speak with you for a second? Privately."

She looked at him a second, then at her husband, then she nodded. "I suppose so."

As the doctor led her over to the far side of the room, Scott started to follow but she waved him off. After about a second she looked over at her husband with a startled expression on her face. There was some more quiet conversation then they both returned. Scott couldn't miss the dazed look on her face as she approached.

"Is anything wrong, Dear?" President Carlton asked, a note of concern in his voice.

"What?" She looked at him startled. "Oh, ah." She looked at Alexander, a strangely unreadable expression on her face, then at the doctor then back at her husband. "Ah, Doctor Peterson asked me if I had recently had a pregnancy test." Scott noted the surprised look on the President's face as Helen continued. "This morning I was wondering if I should do just that." She looked again at Alexander. "Doctor Peterson just told me that I am pregnant." She shrugged still half dazed.

"She's at least eight weeks into the pregnancy." Doctor Peterson added.

Jerry Carlton gazed at her for about a second then spoke. "But how could you know? And why at least eight weeks?"

Doctor Peterson glanced over at Alexander, who shrugged, then answered. "Because if it was less than eight weeks Alexander wouldn't have been able to detect it." The doctor smiled at the First Lady. "Alexander's sense is far more reliable than any pregnancy test. He can sense the presence of other people, including the unborn. I could do the test if you wish but I've never known him to be wrong." The First Lady again glanced at her husband then nodded to Doctor Peterson who took a blood sample and left the room.

Everything was happening so fast and the situation kept changing on him. Scott was having trouble keeping up. Now another new element had been added. The creature could actually sense the presence of the First Lady's unborn child when everyone else had been unaware of its existence. Even the mother had only just begun to suspect that she might be pregnant. What else could Alexander do that he was not yet aware of?

Scott's imagination went into overtime as he tried to evaluate what other abilities Alexander might posses. Scott looked uneasily over at Alexander to find him looking back with a knowing expression. It was as though Alexander knew what he was thinking. Could he read minds? There were way too many unknowns operating here and Scott had the distinct feeling that he was rapidly losing even the illusion of control over the situation.

Added to that was the fact that soon there would be two more unnervingly powerful and uninjured creatures just like him in this room. Did the other two have the same abilities as Alexander? He glanced worriedly over at the President. Did he even have a snowball's chance in hell of protecting the President and his family from them if they turned hostile? Scott was suddenly feeling very inadequate to the challenges he was now facing.

Scott glanced over at the video display then looked back at Alexander. Alexander gave him the barest of nods as though acknowledging his fears. Just how much could this strange creature sense, beside unseen presences?

_**Continued in Part 3**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	3. A Very Unique Family

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: A Very Unique Family<strong>

The Secret Service Agent that Scott had posted in the hall informed him over the radio that the family of the creature had arrived. Also, apparently, one of the hospital volunteers, a young teenage girl, was also there with them. They were all awaiting permission to enter. Scott informed the President who to his surprise told him to let them all come in. Once again the situation was changing faster that he was prepared to deal with. Scott figured if he got out of this without a massive ulcer, it would be a miracle worthy of sainthood. And to top it off, he once again became aware that the tension was making his leg throb.

Every nerve and muscle at high tension, Scott watched as the door opened and the crowd of strangers entered the room. They all exhibited a great deal of surprise as they became aware of the presence of the President and the First Family in the room. This was obviously an unexpected development for them.

The younger of the two very impressive lion-men opened his mouth to speak when he seemed to be startled as the very pretty dark haired girl, with the bandage around her neck, suddenly made a bee-line to Alexander's bedside.

"Oh, Alex, I was so afraid for you." She threw her arms around him causing him to grimace and groan. "Oh, sorry." She immediately eased her embrace but he had already gotten one arm around her preventing her from moving away.

"It's good to see you too, Alex." Alexander replied with a happy though slightly worried smile. Scott suspected he understood the reason for the worry. His family was obviously risking a lot by openly showing up here like this.

Finally the lion-man that had first opened his mouth seemed to recover from the surprise of the girls precipitous actions and blurted out. "Good grief, Alexander, what have you done now?" He again glanced around at the assembled group. "The emotional atmosphere in here is thick enough to drown in." Scott almost laughed at how much the speaker had sounded like his own father. Then he realized the meaning of what he had said. They could sense our emotions? What else could they do? He also noticed that the voice of this other lion-man seemed to have the same effect on everyone as Alexander's voice. That voice could be a powerful tool under the right conditions.

President Carlton was the first to recover and responded while looking at his wife. "Alexander just gave my wife some rather startling news." He looked directly at the lion-man that had spoken. "Am I correct in assuming that you are Alexander's father?"

"Yes Sir. My name is William . . . Chandler-Wells." He drew the pretty redhead close to his side. "And this is my wife, Patricia."

His wife? They were married? But then it did make sense. It still took two to reproduce but . . . Scott's mental train was derailed when the mother spoke.

"It . . . It's an honor to met you Mr. President." Patricia appeared quite a bit flustered by the presence of the First Family.

Alexander's father beckoned two more young women forward. "Mr. President, these are my two daughters. Victoria . . ." She gave a bit of a curtsy. "and Karen . . ." Karen smiled shyly bobbing her head. Scott thought the one called Karen was quite pretty. "Victoria is my natural daughter. Karen is my wife's niece, her mother died in child birth so to us she is our child." He drew his daughters in. "I have one other son, he looks very much like Alexander, but he was unable to make it today."

Scott was wondering what was the deciding factor controlling the appearance of William and Patricia's offspring and how would that affect the children of Karen and Victoria. Then he reminded himself that William had said that Karen was not his natural daughter. Then he chided himself for letting himself get distracted by a pretty girl while on the job. She **was** however **very pretty** he thought to himself rebelliously.

President Carlton replied. "It is a very unusual pleasure to meet your family." He drew his own wife and daughter close. "This is my wife, Helen and my daughter Sandra . . . My son was also unable to be here today." Then he asked. "And who are those two rather distinguished people behind you." Scott was wondering the same thing. The older lion-man had snow white hair and fur, though he still appeared quite healthy and formidable.

The white haired lion-man stepped up drawing the equally white haired but still striking woman with him. "Mr. President, my name is Jacob Chandler-Wells. This is my wife Linda. I am the brother of Williams's father, Charles. Charles and his wife both passed away a few years back. I am here to represent his generation." He then shrugged. "I'm the one that got saddled with the title Broadway Leo."

Scott perked up. This was the 'creature' that was supposed to have carried off a screaming woman in Central Park back in '41? Was this some type of confession? What happened to the woman in question? He studied them for a moment. Both of the leonine males exuded the same air of dignity and power. He couldn't help but be impressed. How many more of them were there? Did all of their voices carry that unique quality of command? To him Linda and Patricia seemed to be perfect examples of women that were happy with their lot in life and the affection between them and their husbands was plain to see. Scott clamped down on his racing thoughts so that he could concentrate on his job of trying to protect the President and his family. He noticed the young girl dressed as a hospital volunteer hanging to the back of the group but she appeared to be the least of his problems right now.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you." President Carlton remarked.

Scott noticed the First Lady place her arm around her husband's waist and the President responded in kind. Scott's attention returned to the group of Alexander's family then the First Lady spoke. "I see someone in the back that we haven't met yet." Scott glanced at the First Lady, surprised that she had noticed the girl.

William looked back. "Tracy come up here and meet your President." As the young teenager hesitantly advanced William continued. "Actually it seems that last Spring Tracy was in Central Park with a young man when Alexander popped up out of nowhere, scared her half to death and chased the young man off. She had something she wanted to say to him."

Scott wondered if this was about to degenerate into a serious situation as the young girl stood uncertainly next to William. "Well, ah . . . I . . . ah . . ." She paused a moment her face turning pink as she looked down then she got it all out in a rush. "I wanted to thank him for keeping me from making the biggest mistake of my life." She looked up at Alexander. "You were right when you said I could do better. He turned out to be a real creep." She looked down as her face turned even redder and she smiled shyly. "And I did meet someone much better."

Scott looked back over at Alexander. There seemed to be a lot more to him than he had suspected. It also reinforced the idea that the lion-men did tend to hang around in Central Park. Scott wondered if there was some important clue here about them. Again his train of thought was interrupted.

President Carlton spoke to the young woman. "I'm very pleased that . . ."

The President was interrupted by the Policy Adviser who stuck his head into the room. "Mr. President, The press has selected their representatives and they're ready to begin your press conference." He glanced around at the rest of the room's occupants in open curiosity. Scott couldn't blame him.

"Give me just a moment." President Carlton responded. Scott was relived. Now the President would probably return to his own room and Scott would be back in familiar, more easily controlled territory.

President Carlton addressed William. "I was just thinking that it might be advantageous if some of you were at that conference. Now that you have, as my grandfather used to say, come out of the closet, it would give you a chance to speak for yourselves." He nodded over at Alexander and Alexandra. "And it certainly wouldn't hurt my political position at all to be seen in the company of a couple of, very popular, genuine heroes."

What? Scott was stunned. Just when he thought the situation couldn't get any more unpredictable he proposes this?

After a bit of discussion President Carlton decided to hold the news conference in Alexander's room and he had decided that all of Alexander's family should be there. Unfortunately, as far as Scott was concerned, this was one of the larger rooms and could easily accommodate everyone. As Scott watched anxiously, the President and his political adviser carefully positioned everyone in the room for best visual and political advantage.

The room phone rang and the female Q-Branch agent, who was standing closest, answered it. "It's Doctor Peterson for Mrs. Carlton." Everyone watched in frank curiosity as the First Lady took the receiver.

After a few quick words she hung up the phone. Her face glowed and her smile dazzled. "Doctor Peterson confirmed it. I'm pregnant!"

"Congratulations Mrs. Carlton!" William remarked.

After only a short few moments of celebration, little Sandra was particularly happy about the prospect of a new little sister or brother, the two reporters and a cameraman were escorted into the room. It was no exaggeration to say that they were quite surprised at the occupant's they found themselves face to face with. The cameraman, after nearly dropping his equipment in his surprise, quickly set up and was soon transmitting the image to the world.

President Carlton, the consummate politician, let the cameraman get a good establishing shot then he spoke. "I would like to welcome you. I have no prepared statement but I do wish to state that I am honored to be in the presence of two fine heroic young Americans. Alexandra Holt, who showed great intelligence and bravery in locating the terrorist bomb. With her is her fiancé, Alexander, who at great personal risk showed incredible skill and courage when he personally stopped the terrorist from setting off that bomb." He introduced the rest of those present in the room. "Now I think I will turn it over to your questions."

As the short interview proceeded Scott developed a growing respect for this very unusual family that he had just met.

Scott was very surprised at the response when the more obnoxious reporter asked, "But how would you feel if your daughter became involved with one of them?" At least the reporter had the grace to wince at the look the President and several others including, Scott himself, gave him.

Scott was really curious though how President Carlton would answer the question when he saw the First Lady glance over at Alexander and his family then smiled down at her daughter. She then jumped in just as her husband was opening his mouth. "Based on what I have learned today, I think I would welcome such a relationship." She stared at the reporter defiantly.

Scott couldn't help but smile at her response and the reporters surprise at it.

President Carlton smiled at his wife then added with a shrug. "There's your answer gentlemen."

The other reporter then asked, "What about the danger? Back in '41 several witnesses reported seeing the Central Park Creature chase down a poor young woman and carry her away screaming in terror."

Scott's attention was immediately on Jacob since he had also wondered about that very thing. Then Linda stepped forward, her eyes on fire with righteous indignation drawing his attention. "I beg your pardon, I was **not** screaming in terror and I **resent** your implications that I would be the least bit afraid of my husband after thirty years of happy marriage." She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the reporter, the picture of offended dignity. Scott was both amused and surprised at the vehemence of her response. Then he saw a hint of a smile spread across President Carlton's face. So far the most difficult questions had been turned back on the reporters by the women, leaving President Carlton free to enjoy himself.

Jacob stepped up and put his arm around her. "Now Love, truth be told, you did squeal a bit when I caught you."

She responded by smacking him on the chest with the flat of her hand. "Beast." She laughed and laid her head on his shoulder. Scott actually laughed in spite of himself at that one.

Patricia cleared her throat, immediately focusing the attention on her. "I was one of those you mentioned, that witnessed what actually turned out to be a playful romp, and I was one of the monster hunters that haunted the park for over two years after that." She linked arms with William. "But I got lucky and eventually caught my quarry." She smiled brightly at the reporters.

Scott had to fight the urge to laugh at both the responses and the reporter's reactions to them. Several mysteries of that particular urban legend were being explained and he was really beginning to develop a healthy respect and admiration for these unique lion-men and their mates.

The press conference went on for just over an hour. Even little Sandra was able to put in her two cents worth. One of the reporters asked. "What does your daughter think about all this?"

Little Sandra spoke up for herself. "I think he looks really cool."

"And what do you know about what happened yesterday?" The reporter added.

"I know that he saved my daddy?" She then marched over and, tugging on Alexander's free arm, drew him closer. "Thank-you." She said softly then gave him a peck on the cheek. Then she giggled. "Your fur tickled my nose." Then she returned to her family to the amused chuckles of some of those in the room. The man operating the camera had zoomed in and had caught the look of surprised appreciation on Alexander's face and the warm half smile he then gave her in return.

There were a few more questions about Alexander's family and Patricia talked a bit about the genetics of the leonine men. Scott paid close attention to her explanation of the lion-men's genetics. She had apparently spent several years studying them first hand and was now going to publish her results. Scott chuckled at the thought that it would certainly take the wind out of that, blowhard, Science Advisers sails.

There were a few questions about Alexander and Alexandra's plans. Alexandra was planning to get a degree in anthropology. Alexander's opportunities had just undergone a radical alteration and he was as yet unsure what he would do. Scott was very amused by Alexandra's description of how they had met. Apparently she had been hiding in the park late one evening trying to get a picture of the Creature of Central Park only to discover that he was standing over her.

Tracy's encounter with Alexander was also brought up. Scott was fascinated by their descriptions of what had happened.

There were also a few questions about the extent of their various injuries. Scott had been very distressed about the news of Alexander's paralysis and he felt sympathy for his family when they heard about it for the first time. Their reaction to the news was so poignant, so public and so very human.

The rest of the time was spent on questions about President Carlton's plans for the upcoming Terrorism Conference and how yesterday's events would affect it. Scott was impressed with, but not surprised by, President Carlton's determination to see this through despite the terrorist's continued attempts to derail his initiative. He thought it was about time the world went after that menace and wiped it out once and for all. He also knew that this was going to make his job much harder from now on.

President Jerry Carlton finished off the interview by announcing his wife's pregnancy. Scott thought that this was a master stoke for a president facing reelection but he suspected that in this case it was just the act of an ordinary man announcing extremely happy news to the world. That was what Scott liked most about Jerry Carlton. He might be a natural born politician, but he was also a genuine human being.

The camera was shut down and the reporters were escorted out.

President Carlton turned to Alexander and his family and thanked them for what they had done for him and the country then he expressed regret and hope over Alexander's condition. He also expressed his support for them He walked right up to Alexander's bed and placed a hand on each of the young lovers' shoulders. "I hope you will send me an invitation when you two get married." Then he backed up, put his arm around his wife and expressed his good wishes to the rest of Alexander's family. As they exited the room Scott saw President Carlton grab a candy bar from Tracy's cart while suggesting to her that she remember to stop by his room while on her rounds this afternoon. Personally Scott was very proud of the way President Carlton and his family had handled the situation even if it did put him, as the President's protector, in a very worrisome position.

Scott and his men escorted the First Family back to the President's own hospital room. Despite everything, the morning and early afternoon had gone surprisingly smoothly. Scott hoped that he would get another chance to see and speak with Alexander's very unique family. Somehow, knowing President Carlton, he suspected that he would. Jerry Carlton would not let Alexander and Alexandra's remarkable heroism go un-remarked.

Shortly after they had settled back in his room President Carlton got a full briefing from Alan Stetson on everyone's part in the remarkable events of yesterday then he got into a discussion with his Policy and Press advisers to draft an official press release to be issued for the evening news. It was to be on the United Nations affair and would concentrate on detailing the important parts played by Alexander, Alexandra and Clarissa in averting a major catastrophe. He insisted that it include heavy praise for all three and the words 'national heroes' be prominently included. They also worked on the language of the press release so that it would subtly emphasize the full citizenship status of the leonine males. As Scott observed this meeting he was very impressed by the clever and very effective wordsmithing as well as the astute political acumen that went into the press release. Having grown up with an English teacher for a father made Scott acutely aware of such things. Once they had it all worked out, the Media Adviser gathered up his notes and headed out to have the finished document prepared for the press.

Jerry Carlton relaxed with his family when a few minutes later the girl, Tracy, came by the President's room with her cart of goodies. Jerry and little Sandra both indulged their sweet tooth while they talked with Tracy about her encounters with the various Wells-Chandlers.

By that evening the press had also managed to identify a few additional members of the Chandler-Wells family. At about the same time an agent brought a folder in to Scott. It contained the same information but it also contained a copy of an old fashion magazine. The cover had a picture of an outdoor wedding scene with a lion-man for the groom. Inside the magazine were several more pictures and a lengthy article about a fashion show that featured lion-men for all the male models. Scott was fascinated by the report and the magazine, and so were the President and the First Lady when he showed the magazine to them. After scrutinizing the pictures Sandra was able to point out Jacob and William. Once she had pointed them out, the rest of them were able to identify those two as well. They also recognized Emily Hanson the supermodel. Even at the age of fifty-five she was still a major figure in the modeling industry and she was well known for her outspoken opinions against terrorists. They were soon speculating about how much involvement she had with the Chandler-Wells family. Mrs. Carlton suggested that based on the looks on the faces captured in those pictures, she suspected that Emily was very involved. Scott took note of that observation for future reference.

Later that evening, just before dinner time, President Carlton's own physician arrived and examined him. He was pronounced in good health and his doctor told him that he was free to head back to Washington as soon as he wished.

Shortly after dinner, at Sandra's insistence, they stopped by Alexander's room. Alexandra, William and Patricia were the only visitors left in his room. Scott wondered how Jacob and Linda had left the hospital without the media being aware of it and if this was another ability that he should worry about. For that matter how could there be as many of them as those fashion magazine pictures suggested and yet go virtually unnoticed?

"Good evening Mister President." William greeted them as they entered the room.

Sandra trotted straight over to Alexander's bed, grinning. "Hi, Alex."

"Hi there Sandra." Alexander returned the greeting with a smile. "What brings you by?"

Sandra responded. "We came by to say goodbye. The doctor said that Daddy was doing great so we're taking him home tonight." She turned serious. "How are you doing?"

Alexander smiled at her. "I'm doing much better now that I have my family with me."

Helen grinned at William and Patricia at this point as she spoke up. "William, you never told us that you once worked as a fashion model." This got a giggle out of Sandra and a snicker out of Patricia.

William shrugged. "It was a very short career."

Helen responded. "It must have been interesting working with those fashion models. The one you're with in the picture was very pretty."

William grinned. "It was an interesting experience."

Patricia remarked as she playfully elbowed him in the side. "I seem to remember hearing that you were involved with that model for a while. Rusty or Randy was her name."

"Her name was Randy and we did see each other off and on for a couple of years after that fashion show. Then I met you and I lost interest in anyone else." He put his arm around her and gave her a hug.

Jerry spoke up. "It looks to me like there might have been something between Emily Hanson and the male that was standing with her."

William nodded. "That would be a good guess. That is Devin and that was their wedding."

During this time Scott had been quietly standing near the President and absorbing everything being said. He had now identified five of the leonine males and knew of the existence of at least seven others. Within a few minutes he managed to catch the names of two others from that picture, Vincent and Joseph. By dropping Vincent and Charles that left at least ten of them that were currently alive and apparently hiding in plain sight.

After about a little over a half hour they said a quick goodbye and were on their way out of the hospital and heading back to Washington DC.

_**Continued in Part 4**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	4. Many Revelations

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Many Revelation<strong>

After his rather thorough debriefing on the UN incident, as they were now calling it, Scott was ordered to report to his supervisor's office. As he entered he noticed the video monitor was showing the news video of the incident in the UN running at about half speed. There were several others in the office, with his supervisor, watching the screen. Scott could sense a definite feel of tension in the room. Stephen Charles, his supervisor, suddenly pointed to the screen. "There! See? He was actually pulling himself up the wire as he was swinging downward." He looked at those around him. "Can you imagine the kind of sheer strength and agility it must take to do that?" The video continued advancing then he paused it. "See that? The creature actually managed to grab that terrorist's hand on the fly and hold on to it even while colliding with him and tumbling across the floor among all those obstacles." Stephen shut off the video then looked over at Scott. "Agent Myers, you have met the creature personally and interacted with him. Just off the top of your head, what was your impression of this Alexander creature and the other two like him?"

Scott glanced at the other men in the office for a moment then looked at his supervisor. It never occurred to him to say anything other than the whole truth. "Large, very powerful, very fast . . . Dangerous." He paused a second to consider his words. "All the time I was in there I had the feeling that even though Alexander was paralyzed from the waist down he still could have taken out all of my agents before we would have even had time to react if he had so wished. They all made me very nervous at first."

"At first?" His supervisor prompted.

"I must admit to a great deal of nervousness about being in the same room with all three of them, but President Carlton insisted on meeting them so I beefed up the security as best I could and prayed. After we were there for a while, I soon came to the conclusion that Alexander and the other two were no danger to us because they did not want to harm anyone." He paused a moment. "I also noticed that, even thought Alexander said he was not sorry he took out those four terrorists in that basement, I believe he was still bothered by what he had done." He paused again in thought then continued. "In fact they all showed great respect for the President and his family. Even Sandra's monster reference only seemed to amuse Alexander." He paused. "If you saw the news interview from the hospital then you have seen a pretty good representation of what they were like. Based on what I observed, I would say that harming others does not come at all easy for them."

"And what was your impression of their voices that I've heard so much about?"

Scott nodded and smiled. "All three of them have a very unique and commanding voice that is very hard to ignore. I noticed that it also has a significant effect on the females." He paused. "I don't think there's a guy alive that wouldn't want to be able to effect women like that just by talking."

His supervisor digested that information for a while then asked. "One other thing, Agent Myers. Your report mentioned that this Alexander and the others seemed to have some type of ESP ability?" There was a hint of skepticism in his supervisor's voice and eyes.

Scott also noticed the raised eyebrows of disbelief on the others in the room and thought very carefully about what he had seen and heard before he responded. "That is very hard to quantify, Sir. I never observed any indication that they were able to read minds or anything like that." He paused to collect his thoughts. "I did however see evidence on more than one occasion that they can sense the emotional state of others around them, but that is a purely subjective observation on my part." Again he paused to consider his words. "One thing I am fairly positive about is that they seem to be able to sense the proximity of other humans even when they can't see them. Alexander knew that Mrs. Carlton was pregnant even though **she** wasn't even sure yet. The doctor, who, by the way, was apparently very familiar with them, said that Alexander could accurately detect the presence of an unborn fetus once it had reached two months."

His supervisor pulled the now familiar fashion magazine from a folder. "You have stated your belief that the lion-men pictured here were **all** 'the real thing'. Have you been able to identify any of them?"

"Yes sir, some of them." He began pointing. "William, Jacob, Devin, Vincent, Charles. I cannot identify the other three except that one of them is named Joseph. I also know that Charles and Vincent are both deceased."

An older grey headed man that Scott recognized as the head of Homeland Security spoke up. "So there are a lot more of these creatures than we originally thought." He faced Scott. "Do you have any estimation of how many of them there are?"

Scott looked back at the man for several moments contemplating his answer. "I could only make a wild guess at this point sir." He shrugged. "I can positively say that I know of the existence of maybe ten of them though I suspect that there are probably twice that many, possibly more." Again he shrugged. "But that is only a guess."

The head of homeland Security responded a bit worriedly. "So the best guess is that there are more than twenty of them out there apparently hiding in the heart of our largest city for several decades." He paused sweeping the room with his gaze before continuing. "And that doesn't even include the other descendants that don't show the more obvious leonine traits."

Scott now thought he understood the source of the tension in the room and was afraid he knew where this was going.

His supervisor spoke next. "Agent Myers, in your opinion, just how much of a threat do you think these creatures might pose to national security?"

Though he had begun to expect it, the question still left him momentarily stunned. Scott looked down as he contemplated how to answer that question. Finally he looked up directly into his supervisor's face and answered. "Sir, I assume that we have all seen the pictures of the devastation Alexander wrought in the basement of the Empire State Building so we all know how deadly they can be in a fight. I suspect that the hypothetical twenty of them could easily take on over a hundred trained agents and have no trouble wiping them out." He paused to let his words sink in. "As far as being a threat to national security . . . I would say, based on their actions so far, that they are an enhancement to national security."

Scott glanced at the head of Homeland Security. "And here's something else to consider. Would you really want to do something that might drive them into the hands of one of the less friendly nations?" He scanned the faces of the others in the room as they thought about what he had said. After a few seconds he continued. "As near as I can tell they mean us no harm and have, in fact, gone out of their way to help whenever they can. Right now, with the War on Terror, we can use all the help that we can get."

Again the office was quiet as each mulled over Scott's words.

Finally his supervisor broke the silence. "Thank you for your insight, Agent Myers." His supervisor responded as he made some notes. After a few seconds his supervisor glanced at Scott's injured leg then looked back up at his face, a hint of sympathy flitted across his eyes. "This week's adventures have left you a little bit worse for wear. As of this minute you are on five day's paid medical leave. Go home and get off that leg. Give it time to heal." Then he dismissed Scott with a negligent wave of his hand.

The wound in Scott's leg ached from all of the standing he had been forced to endure over the last two days and he had developed a very slight limp. Now all he wanted to do is take his supervisor's advice. Ten minutes later he was in his car and heading home.

All the way home, Scott kept mulling over the words of the head of Homeland Security. His comments made Scott feel just a bit uneasy. He suspected that Alexander's family would probably have the resources to survive if Homeland decided to go after them but a lot of good people would probably get hurt in the process and their chances of becoming a part of normal society would suffer in the aftermath. He just hoped that his own words had gotten through to the Homeland Security head.

~ x x x x x ~

Scott had been on medical leave for two days now but he continued to keep up with everything that was going on about the New York incident. Scott felt a shiver run down his spine as he stared at the report he had just read. Each of the four terrorists that Alexander had killed in that basement had been carrying cellular phones with a stored number labeled simply 'bomb'. It turned out to be the number of a cellular phone rigged to the nuclear bomb as a second trigger.

By taking out those four terrorists, Alexander had also foiled their back-up plan. The terrorists plan had been nearly foolproof yet it had been neatly foiled by Alexander and Alexandra through a combination of intelligence, courage, luck, and remarkable determination.

~ x x x x x ~

It had been two weeks since the UN incident and Scott was back in his office going over the latest reports. So far he had seen no indications of any actions by homeland Security against the Wells-Chandlers. Maybe his words had been heeded after all or maybe it was the President's remarks about them. Either way they seemed to be safe and popular with the public right now. He turned to the file on the nuclear bomb. The experts from Q-Branch had been unable to completely disarm the bomb and in the end it had been necessary to detonate it out in the middle of the ocean. They used the cell phone number to set it off. According to the report it had gone boom on the third ring.

The report also stated that most of the terrorists that had been involved in the New York plot had been rounded up. Only a few had managed to escape to one of the rogue countries that had been acting as sanctuaries for the terrorist groups and there were already efforts underway to try to retrieve them. The President's UN initiative was already beginning to bear fruit.

Scott put away the folders and headed out of the office. It was time for him to take command of his team. Two weeks and they still hadn't brought in a new team leader for his team so, for now, he was still leader by default.

~ x x x x x ~

It was nearly three weeks since the UN incident. Agent Scott followed just to the left of President Carlton as he made his way toward the hotel entrance where he would be attending a fundraising dinner for a political ally. As he scanned the crowd on both sides of the roped off walkway, he was as taut as a guitar string ready to react to any situation he might perceive. This was always the most difficult part of the job because the variables presented by the uncontrolled crowd were so random.

With the exception of a few tense moments when a small group of protesters in the crowd began shouting some particularly inflammatory things, they made it into the hotel without trouble. Scott relaxed slightly. His leg was much better but there was still just a hint of stiffness in it, especially when he got tense. From this point on the situation would be relatively controlled. The dinner was by invitation only. The attendees to the dinner were political supporters and had all been checked out when the invitations had been sent out. Everyone on the service staff had also been thoroughly vetted.

About halfway through the dinner Scott found himself momentarily wondering, for about the hundredth time, how much easier his job would be if he had the kind of speed, strength and mental abilities that the Wells-Chandlers seemed to have. Then he forced his mind back to the job at hand, protecting the President.

~ x x x x x ~

Agent Scott Myers entered His supervisor's office, his curiosity peaked. It had been a little over three weeks since the United Nations incident and he was wondering what this would be about. In his mind he was going over his two previous meetings in his supervisor's office.

He had already been through two extremely thorough debriefings about three weeks ago over the incident's surrounding the United Nations terrorist attack. At the first official debriefing they had grilled him about every step of his actions on that day. They wanted to know what he did, why he took the specific actions that he took, and his overall impressions of what happened. Then the subject of the lion-man had come up. Most of the rest of that original grilling had ended up being about Alexander. Those that debriefed him had been very interested in his description of that first meeting between the President and that unique being with his unique family. The second grilling had been entirely about Scott's interactions with and thoughts about the Wells-Chandlers.

Since then Scott had been closely following all the news media reports on Alexander's family with both personal and professional interest.

Scott had not been told what this meeting was to be about but he suspected that he was about to finally meet his new team leader. Being the temporary team leader had been both exhilarating and nerve wracking and he was going to miss it. "_Well it had definitely been very interesting_." He thought to himself as he entered his supervisor's office.

There was an additional person in the office that turned around as Scott entered. Scott thought that the unidentified man looked awfully young to be the new team leader. The man looked to be no older than Scott himself was.

Scott's supervisor nodded at him. "Ah, Agent Myers. I would like you to meet Agent Ken Hendrick. He has amassed an impressive record in his six years at the Secret Service and he has been assigned to your team."

Scott looked at his supervisor uncertainly. "My team sir?" Had he heard his supervisor correctly?

"**Your** team, Agent Myers. Based on your excellent performance during the United Nations terrorism incident, it has been decided to make your impromptu jump to team leader, permanent." His boss was actually smiling, a very rare occurrence, as he looked down at the document he was holding. "During a very chaotic and unpredictable situation, you showed excellent presence of mind and stepped up to the challenge, taking charge of the situation, handling it with dignity and dispatch, and doing the service proud."

His supervisor paused as he referred to another piece of paper from an open folder on his desk. "The President, himself, has commended you and credits you personally with getting him out of that UN situation alive despite the fact that you yourself had been severely injured. He also commended you for the way you handled the unusual situations you were faced with in the hospital. He states that he presented you with highly irregular and difficult situations, particularly the meetings with Alexander and his family, and you handled them without difficulty."

His supervisor set the two documents in the folder then closed it and stuck out his hand. "Congratulations team leader Myers."

Scott accepted his supervisor's hand. "Thank-you sir. I will do my best to live up to your expectations and the requirement's of this agency." He then turned and offered his hand to the new man. "Ah welcome aboard Agent Hendricks."

"I'm honored to be working with you." Ken responded.

Scott walked out of the office half stunned, Ken following behind him. Only five years in the Secret Service and already a team leader on one of the six teams that made up the Presidential security detail. His career with the service was totally unprecedented.

Scott was drawn out of his reverie by the voice of Agent Hendricks. He looked over at the new agent. "Ah, sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said."

Agent Hendricks repeated his question. "I heard that you have met several of those Wells-Chandlers and I asked what they were really like . . . Ah, Sir."

Scott laughed. It seemed like his encounters with Alexander and family was going to haunt him whatever else he accomplished. "Well, Agent Hendricks, the Wells-Chandlers are unlike anyone you have ever encountered." As they continued down the hallway Scott began to warm up to the subject. "First off they are . . . . ."

~ x x x x x ~

Scott put away the latest report. It included information on what Q-Branch had been up to over the last three weeks. Through intensive interrogation of the few surviving terrorists involved in the UN incident they had learned about two additional planned nuclear bomb plots. All of the activity around the New York bomb had effectively masked the existence of the other two bombs until the interrogations had uncovered the rest of the plot. Fortunately all the security activity around the first bomb had caused the shipment of the other two bombs to be delayed by a few weeks.

Q-Branch had managed to track one of the two refrigerator bombs to Los Angeles and had been able to intercept it on arrival, dealing with it before it had been armed. The terrorists were, as yet, unaware that their bomb had been found, disabled and the nuclear core replaced with a dummy. The F.B.I and Q-Branch were still trying to track down the third bomb but they had some promising leads. Meanwhile the second bomb was being kept under continuous surveillance in hopes of catching some of the terrorists in the act and maybe running down the rest of their group.

So far they had managed to keep the existence of the other two bombs a secret from the media but there was no telling how long that would last. The last thing the government needed right now was to tip off the terrorists before the third bomb was found. They also didn't want to cause the type of out of control panic such a premature disclosure could produce.

Scott glanced up, it was the end of his shift, and put the file away in his locked desk drawer. As he got ready to leave the office he grabbed the book he had bought at lunch today and shoved it into his brief case.

As soon as Scott got home he pulled the new book out. The book had hit the stores last week but this was the first chance he had been able to go by the store and get it. He had always been a fan of the author Brigit O'Donnell and had been anxious to get his hands on this book since he first heard about it. He settled into a comfortable chair and began reading the tale of Catherine and Vincent. He quickly became totally engrossed in the story.

At about Dinner time he reluctantly put the book down and fixed himself a quick meal. Just about the time he was finishing his meal his phone rang. He was ordered to report with his team immediately to Air Force One to escort the President and his family out of the Capital. Shoving his book into his brief case he sprinted out of his apartment. This summons had sounded urgent.

Ten minutes later Scott and his team boarded the plane with the First Family. Shortly after the plane left the ground Scott received a communication from Alan Stetson of Q-Branch reporting that the third refrigerator bomb was supposed to be located somewhere in the Capital. They were being taken to a safe location until the bomb had been found and dealt with.

As everyone was settling in for the flight Scott noticed that all four of the Carltons were reading a copy of the new book about Catherine and Vincent. Helen Carlton was quietly reading the book to their daughter Sandra. President Carlton heard him chuckle quietly and looked up at him. "What is it you find amusing Agent Myers?"

Scott put on his best professional face. "I just noticed that all four of you are reading the same book, Sir." He responded with a nod at the rest of the family.

President Carlton glanced at the rest of his family then at the book in his own hands. He then looked over at Scott. "Have you read it?"

Scott responded. "I just got it today and had started reading it when I got the call to report here."

Helen had stopped reading and looked over at Scott. "How far did you get?" She asked.

"I had just reached part in the second chapter where Catherine returns to the old brownstone with groceries to find her witness dead." Scott replied.

"Did you bring your book with you?" President Carlton asked.

"Yes, Sir, I did." Scott replied.

"Well, we may be airborne for a while. You might as well pull it out." There was a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Call it research. You want to be up to date on everything there is to know about Alexander's family for the next time we run into them." He grinned. "That's the rationale that I'm using." He went back to reading his book.

Scott pulled out his book and, after catching a glimpse of President Carlton and Helen both grinning at him, started to read.

They had been in the air for about three hours when they got the word that the FBI, in cooperation with agents of Q-Branch, had traced the bomb to a warehouse a mile from the capital building and caught the terrorists in the act of trying to arm the bomb. Due to a corroded arming circuit, they had not yet been able to get the bomb armed when the taskforce had raided them. One of the terrorists had tried to trigger the bomb manually, but, because of the same corroded contacts, he had failed. The terrorists had been rounded up and the bomb had been made harmless like the Los Angeles one. The whole thing had been kept quiet and the terrorist were being held in a secret location until the rest of them were captured.

Air Force One continued on to Texas to give the illusion that this was just a normal flight on political business. Since the release of the O'Donnell book last week it was known that Catherine's three natural daughters were descendants of Vincent. President Carlton was turning this unexpected trip into an official call on the retired Texas Senator Byron Wyatt and his wife, Catherine's oldest daughter, Jennifer.

After landing in Austin the President made quick stops at the State Capital and the Governor's Office for some political glad handing. Then they went out to visit Byron and Jennifer.

They spent a couple of hours there talking mostly about William, Alexander and Vincent. President Carlton and his wife were particularly interested in Jennifer's recollections of growing up with such a big secret.

Jennifer talked about moonlit nights romping in the park with her brothers and occasional weekends spent out at the Chandler lake property in Connecticut. She described the two summers that she and her brothers had spent building a two level tree house in a particularly large tree just north of the lake. They were very interested in the elaborate planning required to make those trips to the lake as well as the other ruses used to keep their secret. The tales of Halloweens past were also very popular with the President's children.

Byron gave a detailed and very funny description of the first and second time he met Jennifer and how she saved him from a group of muggers. His very humorous description of how she appeared out of nowhere and broke-up the attempted mugging got more laughs than gasps. This led to a discussion of the few more unusual traits that the female descendants of Vincent had inherited. They were all interested to learn that one of Jennifer's daughters was currently married to the mayor of New York.

They were also fascinated to learn that Jennifer and her twin brother Jacob were still able to sense each other's emotions through their link, even halfway across the country. She told them that she and Jacob seemed to be unique in their family where this was concerned.

Finally the First Family left Austin and headed back to DC.

~ o ~

On the plane trip back Scott had to stop reading for a moment as he dabbed at his eyes. He glanced up to see President Carlton grinning at him. "Got to you did it?" He remarked with a hint of a laugh in his voice. "What part are you reading?"

Scott smiled sheepishly. "I'm at the point where Catherine leaves Rebecca's birthday party in the middle of the night and runs back to Vincent."

President Carlton nodded. "Yea, that part got to me too." He glanced around with a secretive grin. "But don't tell anybody. It would be bad for our macho images."

"Right, Sir." Scott nodded with a chuckle. "We wouldn't want that." He wondered what others on his team would say if they knew that he was a sucker for a good romantic comedy, what his older brother called chick flicks. He figured he would keep that to himself.

They both heard Helen laughing and looked over to see her looking back at them. "Too late boys. Your secret is out."

"That's a state secret." Jerry retorted. "You can't tell anyone."

As they were coming into view of the Capital they received word that the FBI had just caught another group of the terrorists as they had tried to arm the Los Angeles bomb. President Carlton decided to continue keeping the other two bombs under wraps until Q-Branch figured out how the terrorists had slipped them through the net in the first place and made sure there were no others out there.

_**Continued in Part 5**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	5. Assassination Attempt

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: <strong>Assassination Attempt<strong>**

Agent Scott Myers stood his post beside the temporary stage that had been set up on the Whitehouse lawn. His nerves were as taut as a piano wire as he scanned the growing crowd of news reporters and spectators that was milling about. Temporary seating for a hundred-fifty people had been set up in front of the stage. A lot of very important people had managed to get themselves invited to this little shindig, including nearly two dozen heads-of-state. He noticed the Prime Minister of Great Brittan talking to the Russian President and the Prime Minister of Japan. About twenty feet beyond them was the Ambassador of France having an animated conversation with the Ambassador of Germany.

Scott thought about Alexander as he had seen him about an hour ago standing on his own feet leaning on that silver and black cane with the springing lion handle. For someone that had been paralyzed from the waist down only three months ago, he had made a remarkable recovery. The reports stated that his doctor had high hoped that Alexander would achieve full mobility before the summer was out. The research paper on the leonine Wells-Chandlers by Alexander's mother had mentioned their remarkable recuperative powers, but even she had not expected Alexander to achieve this much of a comeback.

Scott momentarily shifted his focus as he glanced at each member of his team that was covering the crowd of spectators. They were all at their posts and alert as he expected. They were all fine dependable men and women and he knew that he could count on every one of them to give their best for the President and the Secret Service. He noticed that the newest member of his team, Ken Hendrick, was predictably keyed up by his first time out in an open public forum. This was what every agent secretly feared and desired. That sense of excitement and the hint of danger. Ken would settle down with time and experience. Scott went back to scanning the crowd. This event would be a particularly tricky situation, but then that adjective seemed to define almost everything that President Jerry Carlton did. It had been well publicized for over a week and, though it would not be a live broadcast, it would be very heavily covered by all of the media outlets. This automatically made it a prime target for the terrorists.

Scott knew that everyone here had been thoroughly vetted but then the UN conference should have been a completely controlled and safe environment yet look how that had turned out. But that was only half the problem. This was an open air event and there were all those surrounding buildings to be considered. All leaves had been canceled and Scott's supervisor had put all six of the Presidential Security teams into the field today in order to get all the surrounding buildings covered for this event, but there were still so many uncontrolled variables in this situation. Scott had done the best he could with his men and felt that he had the immediate guest area well covered.

Scott glanced up, shading his eyes, at the Warhawk P-12 interceptor, one of five currently patrolling the skies over the capital, as it passed almost directly overhead. First built in 2048, It was a beautiful and deadly aircraft. Nothing would be able to threaten this ceremony from that quarter. He heard that all five of them were supposed to do a flyover information at the conclusion of the ceremony. A very impressive display but also a major distraction for an assassination attempt. Just one more headache for him to worry about. As the aircraft passed beyond the trees, Scott returned his attention to the growing and milling crowd.

Today the President would be presenting medals to the three civilians most directly responsible for foiling the terrorist's nuclear bomb plot at the anti-terrorism session of the UN General Assembly three months ago. Scott was quite pleased that President Carlton had pushed Congress into awarding these medals. The three people being recognized today really had put everything on the line when they had saved New York from that nuclear bomb. This event would also go a long way towards helping to establish the Wells-Chandlers as legitimate citizens and cement their rights. He just wished it could have been held in a location that was easier to control.

Scott glanced over at the front row of seats. There were still several empty seats on that row. He noticed Jonathon, the newest revealed Wells-Chandler, sitting with Danielle, the girl that he had met on the flight down a few days ago. Beside the girl sat her grandparents. Getting the three of them vetted at the last minute had been a mad scramble. Fortunately the grandparents were well known and respected members of their community and were easily cleared. Danielle however had presented a minor problem. Her father had a slightly checkered past during his teenage years. In the end the vetting process had been bypassed and her clearance granted by direct order from President Carlton himself. That had certainly caused a bit of an uproar among the security people.

Then there was the Wells-Chandler's themselves to consider. How did you go about vetting someone whose existence, until a few months ago, was completely unknown except as an urban legend? There were virtually no public records of them, with the one exception of that major fashion shoot that had been a cover-up of Emily Hanson's very public marriage to Devin Chandler-Wells. The only official records, that anyone had been able to uncover, were the previously un-noticed birth and marriage certificates buried in the New York public records archives. Somehow someone had managed to get those documents registered without anyone noticing. Even now, with all the media attention, there was still a lot that was unknown about them and, he suspected, may never be known. The descriptions in the Brigit O'Donnell book, of the community where Vincent was protected and raised were very vague. The general assumption was that it had been a couple of abandoned office buildings joined by the old steam tunnels. Scott suspected that there was a lot more to it than that and the speculation was far wide of the mark.

Scott's attention was drawn to Alexander and Jonathon's oldest sister, Karen, sitting next to Jonathon and talking to him. She was really very pretty. She also had an interesting history, being found as a newborn infant next to the body of her dead mother in an abandoned building just moments before that building was burned to the ground. He remembered her from that time she had come with the family to visit Alexander in the hospital. Even then she had left an impression on him.

He was momentarily distracted by the bustle of the media representatives that were all around setting up their equipment to record the awards ceremony. About half of the seats in the audience were already filled with the dignitaries that had enough clout to get invited. His attention shifted again when he noticed that Jonathon and Karen got up from their seats and headed to the curtained off area where the ones to be honored were getting their last minute instructions.

A minute later he saw Alexander and William peering around the edge of the curtain, looking out at the crowd. After a few seconds Alexander and William smiled at their friends and family seated in the front row then retreated back behind the curtain.

Scott frowned. There was something about this that didn't seem quite right to him and he wondered if he should send one of his agents back there to find out what was going on. He ran a quick roll-call check to be sure that nothing was out of place.

About two minutes later, just seconds after Scott completed running his roll-call check-in, William came from behind the curtain. He glanced around then walked right up to Scott. "I thought you should know that we have detected a threat in the crowd. There are at least three of them, possibly as many as six."

Scott studied William's intense expression for a moment then spoke into his radio. "This is Scott, I'm relocating to the backstage area to investigate a possible situation." He then indicated for William to precede him. Though an assassin in this crowd seemed extremely unlikely, especially three or more of them, he couldn't afford to ignore any mention of a possible threat and these people didn't strike him as the type to over react to nothing.

Once they were behind the curtain Scott wasted no time in asking William to explain. "Now, what is this about a threat in the crowd?"

Jonathon, the young brother of Alexander, was the one that responded to his inquiry. "I was able to sense them in the crowd but there are several of them and they are spread out. All the emotional noise from the crowd makes it impossible for us to sense anything more specific."

Scott checked in with the part of his team escorting the President, requesting current status. They responded with nothing new to report. They also reported that the President was about ready to start. He then checked with the event coordinators who reported all of the guests had finally arrived and that all checks, including the bumpers, had come up negative. If there was any kind of threat, his men had found no sign of it.

Scott frowned as he spoke to the group before him. "Our bumpers have detected no weapons in that crowd and every one out there has been vetted." He looked at them a bit skeptically. "And what did you mean by sensed?" He suspected that he knew what they meant but he still needed to ask.

Karen, the pretty older sister that he had been noticing recently, spoke up. "Please, sir, my father and my brothers know what they are saying. They're empaths. They can sense very strong emotion when it's nearby."

Then Alexander jumped in. "I know it's hard to accept but it is true. It's the same sense that allowed me to detect the First Lady's pregnancy. The emotions we detected a moment ago were exactly like what I felt from the terrorists in the UN building. They're hostile and they intend harm, they must have some type of weapon whether your people can detect them are not. We're having difficulty pinpointing them because there are several of them and they are spread out in a noisy crowd." He glanced over at William and back at Scott. "At least delay the ceremony until you can check it out."

Agent Scott Myers looked around at the group. He had years of training at gauging people and despite their very unusual appearance, their faces still retained enough humanity that he felt he could make a good judgment. To him they appeared to be completely sincere. And he already had a tendency to give Alexander the benefit of the doubt. He looked over at the young woman Karen. As near as he could tell she had no doubt about what the other's were saying. He thought again how beautiful she was then chided himself for his unprofessional thoughts and dragged his attention back to the matter at hand. He decided better safe than sorry and spoke on his radio. "This is Scott Myers requesting a temporary hold while the bumpers do another pass through the crowd. I have been apprised of a possible threat situation." He faced William. "That's the best I can do unless you can give me something more specific to go on."

William responded. "I wish we could, sir, but all the emotional noise from the crowd makes it nearly impossible to pin-point the sources unless they do something to make them stand out."

Alexander peered out into the audience. After a few minutes he returned and looked at Scott. "Bumpers?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Scott glanced at Alexander for a moment debating whether to explain one of the Secret Service's little known tools. He decided that it wouldn't hurt and smiled slightly as he replied. "Professionally trained pickpockets who check suspicious people in the crowd looking for any type of weapons." Scott then shifted back to his professional stoic agent mode while they waited for the report. After a while he got a negative report from his men and acknowledged it. He faced the group with a very slight shrug. "We found no indications of any type of weapons. The ceremony will have to go on as planned but I will keep a close watch on things."

Scott went back to his post, feeling uneasy about the situation. Though there had been no verification of the threat, he was unwilling to dismiss it out of hand. He was already convinced that the leonine males could sense things that he and his men couldn't. If something was going to happen, he figured the first indication would come from those three. He watched the others go out to their seats. Scott told his men to keep an extra careful watch on the crowd and he told the four agents that were nearest the podium to keep their eyes on the Wells-Chandlers. If any of them were to take any sudden action the agents nearest them were to step in and help them if they could. Scott centered his attention on Alexander since he would be standing closest to the President during most of the presentation.

President Carlton stepped up to the podium looking very much in command. Scott did a quick visual scan of the crowd, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, with the exception of the leonine males. He returned his attention to Alexander. To Scott he looked for all the world like a lion ready to pounce and both William and Jonathon appeared to be intently scanning the crowd. Scott repeated his instructions to his men to pay extra close attention to any individuals that the Wells-Chandlers seemed to zero in on. If something was going to happen it would probably happen quickly with very little warning. He also placed two of his men closer than normal to the president's position. Scott could feel the tension in his muscles and tried to relax just a bit.

The appropriate moment arrived for the presentation of the medals and Alexander, Alexandra and Clarissa stepped up onto the small stage. As he rose from his seat, Alexander glanced over at Scott then focused his attention on President Carlton. Scott was now focused entirely on Alexander and he noticed that Alexandra definitely showed signs of high tension. Alexander gave Scott the barest nod and seemed to adjust his grip on his cane as he mounted the three steps to the stage. Something was going to happen and it would probably be any moment now. Scott told his agent's to be on their toes and ready to act.

The President gave a short speech praising the three heroes before him and recounting their parts in foiling the terrorist plot. As soon as Scott saw Alexander shifting his stance he knew it was going down now and concentrated on the front of the crowd. Then the President approached Alexander and everything seemed to happen at once with blinding speed.

Alexander launched himself at President Carlton while simultaneously throwing his cane backwards with a surprising amount of force at the cameraman directly behind him. Before Scott had even registered that he was in motion, Alexander had caught both President Carlton and the Secret Service agent standing closest to him, knocked them both down to the ground and landing on top of them both. At the same time Scott heard several slightly muffled shots and saw the muzzle flash and puffs of smoke from three of the news cameras. The camera man directly behind Alexander had been temporarily disabled when Alexander's cane hit him in the solar plexus. Scott launched himself at the assassin closest to him and, with the help of the agent that had been standing next to him, took the cameraman down. He was peripherally aware that Jonathon had also tackled a another of the assassin cameramen while a third cameramen was taken down at that same instant by William who had moved just as suddenly as both of his sons. He was barely aware that his own agents had shot at least one other person. The next instant he saw another of his agents shoot the cameraman that Alexander had hit with his cane as that assassin struggled to reach his fallen camera.

Scott left two agents in charge of the man he had tackled and raced over to help the President but Alexander had already started to help him up, so he went over to help Alexandra and Clarissa back to their feet. He saw the blood on Alexandra's shoulder and signaled to the paramedics. He glanced over and saw the President reach out and steady Alexander who had nearly toppled over.

Looking down he saw Alexander's cane laying on the ground nearby and retrieved it. As pandemonium broke out in the crowd Scott quickly stepped over to Alexander and the President. He handed Alexander's cane back to him as he tried to urge the President off the stage.

Shaking off the help of Scott and his men President Carlton stepped up to the podium and, exerting a commanding presidential presence, quickly called the crowd to order. A paramedic was treating an apparent bullet wound to Alexandra's shoulder that seemed to be the only injury suffered, other than the terrorists. Scott's men had already taken control of the two terrorists that William and Jonathon had tackled. Scott ordered his men to collect the five cameras that had contained the concealed guns. They would be analyzed to find out how they had gotten them through security and to discover who had manufactured them. The terrorists obviously had access to very sophisticated technology that could only come from a reasonably advanced country.

After the assassins, both alive and dead, were removed the ceremony resumed at the President's insistence. President Carlton started off by emphasizing that today's events and their heroic actions only proved that these three people deserved the medals they were receiving today. He also made a point of recognizing the actions of William and Jonathon in preventing disaster.

Then the presentation was done and they all received a standing ovation from the crowd as the perfectly timed flyover took place. Scott thought that it was amusing and interesting that despite the confusion and unexpected delay, that one aspect had managed to be timed perfectly.

After the ceremony was over and the President safely back inside the Whitehouse, Scott went to his supervisor's office to report on what had happened. He made a point of reporting on the advanced warning he had received from Alexander's family and credited it for his agents ability to react so quickly once the assassins had revealed themselves. He also pointed out that because of the method used by the assassins it was only Alexander's speed combined with his ability to sense the threat that enabled him to react just before the shots were fired and save the President's life.

~ x x x x x ~

Except for the presentation of a painting and a book to the Smithsonian, the media gave the Chandler-Wells family plenty of space. The incidents at the medal presentation was more than enough to keep the news media buzzing.

Much of that next morning Scott spent studying the various recorded videos of the assassination attempt. One thing was immediately obvious. President Carlton was alive because Alexander had knocked him down at the same time the assassins were pulling their triggers. Just soon enough that the bullets missed yet late enough that there had no time for the assassins to adjust their aim. The timing was flawless. The other obvious factor was their speed. This particular factor had not been as obvious in the UN incident. No normal human could possibly have moved that fast. Alexandra had been the only one injured, because she had not been able to move as fast and knocking Clarissa down had slowed her even more. The timing of her tackling of Clarissa suggested to Scott that she must have received some unseen signal to act. He wondered if it was somehow related to the bond that had been mentioned in the O'Donnell book.

~ o ~

That evening was spent interrogating the terrorists that were still alive. During the interrogation one of the captured terrorists let it slip that there was a second attack in the works but they were unable to get anything more out of them. Scott had noticed during the questioning that all of the terrorists seemed to get very nervous whenever one of the Wells-Chandlers was mentioned which gave him an idea.

Scott got his hands on some of the crime scene photos of the four dead terrorists found in the Empire State Building basement and spread them on the table in front of one of the terrorists. He shook his head as he commented on the pictures while spreading them out, mostly questioning how Alexander had managed to do so much damage so quickly.

Once the terrorist had enough time to get a good look, Scott started tapping the pictures with his finger as he spoke asking the terrorist if he knew any of those in the photographs. The pictures were pretty gruesome and the terrorist was getting very uncomfortable as he tried not to look at them. Scott continued to question him about what else was planned and how they were related to the four in the pictures. All the while he kept drawing the terrorist's attention back to those pictures.

Scott left the small interrogation room, leaving the man alone with the unpleasant pictures. After a dozen minutes he returned shaking his head. He glanced at the mirror that took up one wall. "Did you know that Alexander is a living lie detector?" He glanced again at the mirror. "Anyway he says that you know a lot more than you're telling." There was the sound of a thump from the mirror and Scott glanced back. "You know he really doesn't like you guys, especially after what those four tried to do to his girlfriend." Scott tapped one of the pictures at that point. "I actually heard him growl while I was back there." Scott shook his head. "I didn't know that they could growl; did you know they could growl?" He noticed that the terrorist was looking nervously at the mirror. "I just hope he doesn't go nuts on us." He rested his hand on one of the more gruesome pictures. "I suspect that he would have no trouble smashing through that mirror and I couldn't even slow him down if he managed to get in here." There was another thump from the direction of the mirror.

Between the horrific pictures and the implied threat that one of the lion-men might smash through the mirror and attack at any moment, Scott finally broke the will of the terrorist and he began to give up the information that they had been seeking. It turned out that the secondary backup plan had been to set off a suicide truck bomb at the Whitehouse lunch that was planned for tomorrow.

Around the middle of the afternoon The FBI assaulted a warehouse in the bad part of town. A very large truck bomb was seized before it was even ready to leave its staging area. The rest of the terrorists that had been involved in the plot were caught unaware and were rounded up. A few hours later, based on information gleaned from the interrogations and by tracing down associations, the FBI and the Secret Service managed to round up over a dozen major terrorist cells. The terrorist organization had been dealt a very serious, though not quite fatal, blow

~ o ~

Later that evening Scott was filling out his report on the foiled terrorist plot. Though totally fictional and not exactly standard practice, his use of the threat of attack from Alexander had proved very effective. He wondered just how the real presence of Alexander might affect those being interrogated.

Scott was putting the finishing touches on his report when he got a message from the Whitehouse Chief of Staff. They had just received word that Alexandra's grandfather, Norman, was feeling a bit under the weather, so he would not be able to attend the lunch tomorrow. Also Alexander's younger sister, Victoria, would be staying behind to watch over Norman. That left two vacancy's for the lunch at the Whitehouse.

Scott filed his report then personally called William to verify the change of plans. He expressed his hope that Norman would be feeling better soon.

During the conversation William commented. "I know it is probably way too late to make any additions but it **is** Danielle's birthday tomorrow and it would be nice if her grandparents could attend the lunch with her."

Scott thought about it for a moment. He knew that the grandparents had already been vetted in order to attend the medal presentations. "I can't make any promises but I will look into it."

Scott saw the President to report the change in the lunch guest list. As President Carlton was discussing the change with the staff, Scott broached the subject of Danielle's grandparents with the President. He pointed out that there would be very little change necessary to add the grandparents to the list.

After a quick discussion with the kitchen and dining room staff Jerry OK'ed the change and told Scott that he would have to handle the details.

~ x x x x x ~

Since it had been so last minute Scott decided to personally deliver the hastily printed invitations to the grandparents. He had the limousine that was to pick up Danielle dispatched extra early and rode out to the grandparent's house to deliver the invitations and escort them back to the Whitehouse.

At Danielle's grandparent's house Scott walked up to the door thinking this would definitely be a surprise. It was a very surprised Danielle that answered the door. Scott displayed his Secret Service identification. "I have been authorized to extend the lunch invitation to your grandparents. That is why I arrived this early, to give them time to prepare." He handed her two hastily printed invitations. She ran excitedly into the breakfast room leaving Scott standing in the door.

Scott chuckled and stepped into the front room. A few minutes later she returned with her grandparents. Scott verified that the invitation was legitimate and that he was here to assist them if necessary.

About an hour later they were ready and Scott escorted them out to the car and rode with them back to the Whitehouse.

Scott was standing duty during the lunch and his eyes kept being drawn to Karen. She was very pretty and he was feeling a definite attraction to her. He also caught her looking back at him a couple of times as well.

_**Continued in Part 6**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	6. The Terrorists Strike Back

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: <strong> <strong>The Terrorists Strike Back<strong>****

The Chandler-wells family spent the sixth day of their time in Washington exploring on their own. Danielle flew back to New York on the morning flight. Jonathan went with her to the airport and saw her off. Because of the strong possibility of a terrorist attempt against them, President Carlton requested that Agent Myers and his team be assigned to watch over the Chandler-Wells family until they left on the last evening flight.

At first Scott noticed that Agent Ken Hendrick was very nervous being in such close proximity to the leonine Wells-Chandlers but Victoria began to pay extra attention to him and soon Ken became comfortable around them. Scott thought it was amusing how much the attention of a beautiful girl could influence a man's attitude. On that thought Scott found himself gazing over at Karen as she was talking to Jonathon and Alexander. Yup, any man. His attention reverted to the crowd of on-lookers that was drawn by their presence.

Later in the afternoon Scott once again found his attention drawn to Karen for the umpteenth time and tried not to let it show. Yet somehow he seemed to constantly find himself in close proximity with her. Whenever this happened she would strike up a conversation with him. He found her not only very attractive, but also very interesting to talk to. In the last hour or so he had begun to suspect this was not just a happy coincidence and that he and Karen were being intentionally thrown together. Not that he minded, but he was getting curious.

Finally when they had ended up momentarily alone together Scott glanced around then just asked her outright. "Is it my imagination or are we being set-up?"

Karen laughed, her eyes sparkling beguilingly with mischief. "Of course we're being set up. Alexander noticed that you are interested in me and asked me what I thought about it. I admitted that I thought you looked pretty cute." She paused blushing then continued. "Jonathan was also aware of what was going on. I know that Alex and Jon both admire all of you Secret Service Agents. After that they both started conspiring to have you and me end up together as much as possible. Once Dad caught on he also joined into the conspiracy."

Scott chuckled then responded. "Well this is the first time that I can honestly say that I don't mind being the victim of a conspiracy." He smiled. "So you don't mind?"

She gave a little bit of a giggle as she blushed then she looked up into his eyes. "I welcome it."

For a moment they continued to look into each other's eyes. Slowly they moved together then he reached out and gently touched her cheek. She moved in even closer and her hand came up to touch his cheek in a mirroring of his own gesture. The touch sent a shiver up his spine as she moved even closer still. Soon they were so close that there was only one way to go as their lips met. It was a soft gentle kiss, a first kiss, still chaste but so full of promise and possibilities. Their arms encircled each other without either of them even aware of it.

Finally they broke and both sighed. Then Scott spoke. "I have been wanting to do that for days now."

Karen gave another half giggle. "So have I." She smiled at him and fire seemed to sparkle in her eyes as she sighed again. "So , have , I." She breathed the words softly, almost in a whisper.

Scott moved daringly in for another kiss and she willingly responded again.

A hissing sound disturbed them and they broke apart. A quiet voice that could only be one of the Wells-Chandlers came from around the corner. "Company's coming, you two better break it up."

They both dropped their arms as Scott's head spun dizzyingly over what had happened. The next instant the voice again spoke louder. "I think it's over this way." Then William came around the corner. "Yes this is the way." He grinned at both Scott and Karen as he strode past them. Then he glanced over his shoulder. "Are you two coming?" Then the rest of the family and the other three agents began coming around the corner.

Scott shrugged his shoulders. "Just waiting for the rest of you to catch up."

~ o ~

After that Scott often caught the knowing grins on the faces of all three Wells-Chandlers whenever he and Karen ended up thrown together. It was actually humorous. They knew how he felt, he knew what they were doing about it, and they knew that he knew. He realized that he was getting a taste of what it must be like living in a situation where keeping secrets was impossible. There was something both exhilarating and disconcerting about it.

That evening as they were in the airport preparing to board their flight home, Karen was able to catch her agent unawares and stole a quick kiss before boarding the plane. There was more than a hint of passion in that kiss as it lingered much longer than either of them had expected. There was a definite promise of more to come in that kiss. A quick glance at the others revealed that no one else had been the least bit surprised by it. Then after a moment's gaze into her eyes, she turned and started down the jetway while Scott stared after her with a stunned smile on his face.

After a moment Aaron, the most experience of the agents under his command, nudged him in the side. "I think she likes you."

Scott responded distractedly. "I sure hope so."

A week later Scott received a letter from Karen telling him how much she enjoyed the time she had spent with him while in the Capital. The letter also included her phone number and the suggestion that he call her. The very next day he did just that.

~ x x x x x ~

It was the first week of June and it was a very warm day. Scott stood next to the street in front of the famous hotel and slowly scanned both the street and the surrounding buildings. Tomorrow the President would be arriving here and Scott had to be sure that all possible threat sources were covered. He sat down on the nearby bus stop bench, pulled out his electronic assistant and began noting down all of the points of concern.

Tomorrow was to be another standard 'meet and greet' while President Carlton dedicated a new library. Immediately afterward there would be a fundraising lunch at this hotel. Ever since the President initiated the United Nations war against international terrorism protecting the President had become much more complicated. Nothing could be taken for granted.

There were the usual adjacent buildings and the building across the street. A dozen snipers would be split between the roof of the hotel and the roof of the office building across the street from it. Scott and his team would be acting as Presidential escort. One of the other teams would be spread through the hotel as general security and ground support. As he watched a local police car cruise by, he noted down that he should also request that the local police increase the number of patrols in the immediate area until tomorrow's activities were over.

Scott stood up and proceeded to walk all the way around the block noting the street layout and intersections. Afterward he went into the hotel and up to the roof. He walked the perimeter of the roof checking for lines of sight.

He decided to request three VTOL aircraft to keep watch over the surrounding streets during tomorrow's events. Two would be airborne. The third would be kept in reserve at the helipad on the hotel roof, where it would serve as both backup for the other two and as a fast evacuation craft should the need arise.

After making a few more notes, he went back down, hopped into his car and drove around the neighborhood comparing what he saw to the maps and satellite photos he had been studying this morning. He also spent a half hour checking out the hospital that was four blocks from the hotel.

Less than a quarter mile away Scott stopped at the new Library that President Carlton would also be dedicating tomorrow morning before the lunch at the hotel.

This would be a breeze compared to the hotel. There was a large open soccer field and city park across the street from the library entrance. There were no tall buildings nearby to worry about either. A few spotters on the library roof and a reasonable number of agents in the expected crowd should be sufficient.

The new library had been partially financed by the Wells-Chandler Foundation which is why Scott couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the two customary stone lions that flanked the library's entrance. He wondered how many others would notice the unintentional connection.

Finally he returned to his own hotel room to plan out the final assignments for tomorrow's activities.

~ x x x x x ~

Scott put away the latest letter from Karen and left his hotel room to join up with the rest of his team. Fifteen minutes later the presidential convoy pulled away. Half of Scott's team was in the lead vehicle and the other half was in the trailing vehicle. Scott was riding in the front seat of the President's limousine next to the driver.

Scott was soon getting reports on the crowd at the library and the hotel. So far everything was going smoothly. Eight minutes later they reached the library.

The President's limousine stopped in front of the library next to the stone steps that led up to the two stone lions. Scott stepped out of the front passenger's side door and scanned the milling crowd of people, here to catch a glimpse of a, currently, very popular President. Scott's team took up their positions around the limo. The local police had done a very good job of clearing a wide corridor between the limousine and the entrance to the library. He opened the door and assisted the First Lady out of the car. President Carlton stepped out of the limo next and Scott's team moved in to surround the First Couple as they made their way up the stone steps to the local dignitaries standing beside the large red ribbon stretched between the two stone lions.

Scott noticed the President and the First Lady both glance at the lions and smile. They both had caught the connection. His attention was momentarily drawn to the two VTOL aircraft circling just beyond the outer edges of the crowd then his attention returned to the people on either side of the walkway at the base of the stairs.

President Carlton gave a short speech about the importance of the American library system to the lives of the citizens and to the technological leadership of the country. Next he cut the ribbon to the cheers of the crowd. There was some hand shaking and then they all entered the library for a quick tour.

Thirty minutes later they were back in the convoy of vehicles and on their way to the hotel for the next event.

~ o ~

As Scott stepped out of the President's Limousine, he was looking around taking in the situation. He scanned the crowd looking for any sign of possible trouble. As with the library, these people had gathered to catch a glimpse of the President. The constant milling of the crowd, each person looking for the best available vantage point, made it difficult to spot the likely signs of possible trouble. His team closed in and he opened the rear passenger door to the limousine and offered his hand to the First Lady.

Scott assisted First Lady Helen Carlton out of the limousine then again scanned the surroundings while the President was shifting toward the door. As the president began emerging from the car, Scott's eyes fell on the concrete bus stop bench located about twenty feet away that he had sat on yesterday while making notes. He frowned. He didn't know why but something about that bench just didn't feel right. He made a snap decision, speaking to the radio. "We're aborting this entrance and moving to the alternate entrance." He addressed the President. "Please stay in the vehicle sir." He turned to the First Lady as three of his agents closed in to protect her. "Please return to the car Ma'am. We are relocating." He reached out his hand to assist her back into the limousine.

**BOOM**

Scott was thrown backwards as the First Lady crashed into him then landed on top of him along with several other bodies.

Scott shook off the momentary paralysis of surprise and immediately struggled back to his feet. The ringing in his ears and screaming from the panicked crowd made it difficult to think as he tried to assess the situation. The First Lady was on the ground, bloody and not moving. She was partially covered by the bodies of two members of his team. Both of those agents were obviously dead. They had lost their lives to protect the First Lady. Scott was distressed to see that one of them was Agent Ken Hendrick, the newest member of his team. A hell of a short career but at least he had died in the line of duty. Scott turned his attention back to the situation at hand. A third member of his team was moving but he appeared to be very badly wounded. President Jerry Carlton's pained voice was coming from the door of the armored limousine calling out his wife's name.

Scott saw the First Lady moving feebly and heard her painful groan. He quickly bent down and shoved the bodies of his two dead agents aside, their sacrifice would not be in vain if he could help it. Scott quickly but carefully picked up the First Lady and placed her in the car, her head and shoulders resting in her husband's lap, then jumped in with them. Glancing through the front windshield Scott saw that the lead vehicle of the motorcade was on its side and unusable. Fortunately the armored limousine was relatively undamaged. He glanced behind them and saw that the trailing vehicle was still usable and sent out orders for all able bodied members of his team to follow the limo in the other vehicle. Then Scott called out to the shocked limo driver jolting him out of his stunned state. "Take us to the hospital, **now**." Then he pulled the car door shut.

As the police and agents that had survived with minimal injuries cleared a path for them the President's limousine pulled out, escorted by the remaining Secret Service vehicle. Scott meanwhile was ordering the two airborne VTOL aircraft to fly ahead and make sure the way to the hospital was clear. He ordered the third VTOL craft to take-off immediately and fly high cover for the limousine. By the time they reached the first intersection, their course to the nearest hospital was set and Scott was in contact with the Emergency Room giving them updates on the First Lady's condition. Another member of his team that was riding in the limousine was on the radio coordinating the efforts around securing the attack site.

One of the two leading aircraft reported that they had spotted three men on a rooftop along the route and they were carrying shoulder-mount rocket launchers. The pilot added that one of the rocket launchers was being brought to bear on the aircraft. Scott responded, "Take'em out!" A second later the pilot reported that the three terrorists had been taken out by the two snipers aboard the aircraft.

Three minutes later they pulled up to the emergency entrance then the waiting orderlies quickly loaded the First Lady onto a gurney and rushed her into the hospital escorted by two of the Secret Service agents. Scott and three more of his agents escorted President Carlton into the hospital. The doctors quickly surrounded them and began checking them over for injuries.

President Carlton was unhurt. Scott had suffered multiple serious cuts and bruises but nothing remotely life threatening.

Fifteen minutes later the rest of the more seriously injured from the bomb attack began arriving at the hospital just as Scott began receiving reports from the attack site. The explosion had come from the location of the bus stop bench. There were twenty-three dead and over a hundred wounded. Three of Scott's men were dead and five had been badly wounded.

As Scott was getting the reports a contingent of city police arrived at the hospital to help maintain order. Scott assigned two of his agents to act as liaisons with the police department. Next he contacted his supervisor to report on the situation.

Within the hour the hospital was inundated with relatives of the dead and injured, multiple members of the media, and rubbernecking gawkers. Scott posted six agents to watch over the First Lady then he commandeered one of the smaller waiting areas. With eight of his men out of action Scott was seriously shorthanded and called for additional agents to help keep everyone away from the President.

As he was organizing his remaining agents his personal cell phone signaled. It was a shaken and worried Karen wanting to know if he was OK. He quickly reassured her, telling her that he would talk to her later, then went back to organizing the extra agents that had just arrived.

Scott glanced into the small waiting area at the President; his clothes stained with the First Lady's blood, then contacted the staff in the President's hotel suite. He told them to bring a change of clothes over to the hospital for the President, ASAP then he entered the waiting area to find President Carlton talking on the phone to his children.

". . . doctors are taking good care of your mother and they told me that she would be alright." . . .

"Yes I'll let you know as soon as I know more." . . .

"You watch over your sister and I'll talk to you later." . . .

"Bye, son. We love you."

Jerry Carlton looked up at Scott as he approached. "This is really hard on the kids." He shook his head pain and worry clearly showing in his eyes. "I just hope I wasn't lying to them when I told them that their mother would be alright." He looked down at his bloodied hands clasped tightly together.

After a moment Scott spoke. "Is that true, what you told them about the doctor's report, Sir?" He was still remembering how bad Helen Carlton had looked when he had lifted her into the limo but he tried not to let it show in his face.

President Carlton looked up at Scott, the emotions visible on his face almost too painful to look at. "The doctor only said that she appeared to be stabilized." He looked back down at his hands and continued speaking, but he now seemed to be rambling mostly to himself. "There was so much blood." He breathed a deep sigh as he took in the blood on the front of his shirt. ". . . so much blood . . . Please, God, let her be OK." He shook his head as he continued to speak to himself. "I hope the baby is OK . . . It would kill her to lose the baby . . ."

"I'm sure they will be alright, Sir." Scott responded trying to sound reassuring. He too had been bothered by the large amount of blood. There was no way to tell what had come from her own injuries and what had come from the two dead agents that had landed on top of her. Scott had developed a real affection for the entire First Family and this situation was hard on his emotions as well.

For the next couple of hours Scott and President Carlton sat in the waiting room deep in their own thoughts. It was the waiting to hear from the doctors working on her that was the most nerve wracking. Scott kept playing the scene over in his mind trying to analyze what had happened, second guessing himself. He finally realized that it had been the color and texture of the concrete bus stop bench that had set off his internal alarm. Both had been just slightly off from what he remembered from yesterday. Someone had managed to switch out that bench sometime last night with no one noticing.

Agent Richardson, entered the waiting room accompanied by Alan Stetson, Head of Q-Branch. Alan proceeded to report on the initial discoveries of his department's investigation. "The bench had apparently been hollowed out and packed with explosive. They found the remains of the trigger. The bomb was set off by remote. They probably panicked when you stopped the President from getting out and set it off to cover their escape."

The president's phone rang. He answered it and began speaking in a low tone.

Scott glanced over at the President then continued in a lower tone of voice. "I think you should know that that bench was not the same one that was out there yesterday when I checked out the area. Someone managed to replace it sometime during the night." Agent Scott Myers paused momentarily distracted by a wave of guilt over not having noticed the switch earlier. "I should have noticed sooner." He bowed his head.

Alan shook his head. "I saw some of the news footage as well as pieces concrete left from that bench. I don't see how you were able to tell any difference."

"It was just a slight difference in color from the day before. I didn't even know what it was that bothered me about it until a few minutes ago." He shrugged shaking his head.

Alan responded. "Your powers of observation are better than mine." He touched Scott's shoulder. "You may not have the Wells-Chandler's empathic gift but your instincts are nearly as good."

After another pause Scott asked. "Any ideas about who it was that did this?"

Alan responded. "Nothing definite yet, but we think that it was the surviving remnants of the group responsible for the Empire State bomb." He glanced over at the President then continued. "My people traced one of the components of the trigger to an apartment in Arlington, Virginia. Inside they found a video taking credit for killing the entire first family. Based on some hints they gleaned from that video, we intercepted a suicide bomber that had intended to get the President's two children as they left their school."

Scott glanced quickly over at President Carlton. Judging by the look on his face, Scott knew that he had heard. Scott turned back to Alan. "OK, please let my supervisor know immediately if there are any new developments."

"I'll be doing that." Then Alan approached President Carlton, who was now off his phone, and began to make his report to him.

Scott dismissed Agent Richardson and went back over to the President.

President Carlton looked a bit dazed as he looked up at Alan Stetson. "I just heard. Now they're going after my family."

Alan replied. "Yes, Sir, but, for the most part, their plans failed, and we will soon have them all in custody."

They were interrupted by the arrival of the emergency surgeon. "Mister President, the First Lady is out of surgery and has been moved to recovery. Everything went smoothly and she is listed as serious but stable. She should wake up in about an hour and then she will be moved out of recovery and placed in a private room. If there are no complications, we feel she will make a complete recovery."

"What about the baby?" President Carlton asked anxiously.

"The baby was unharmed, Sir. If you wish I can take you to the private room we have set aside for her, where you can wait for her to get out of recovery."

"Thank-you doctor, I would appreciate that."

After they reached the private room Scott organized the remainder of his agents to guard the first Lady's room. Once he was certain that the situation was as secure as he could make it Scott spoke to President Carlton. "Sir, you and your wife are as secure as I can make it. I was about to call Karen to let her know that I'm O.K. Since I know that she is going to ask I would I would like to know if it would be alright for me to apprise her about the First Lady's condition?"

President Carlton looked up at him for a minute then he finally spoke. "That's O.K. agent Myers. You are both trustworthy in my book. You may tell her about our condition. Just be sure that she understands that anything said between the two of you about Helen's condition is not for public consumption."

"I understand, Sir." With that he moved to the far corner of the room and dialed Karen's number.

~ x x x x x ~

The media was full of reports on the First Lady's condition and of the round-up of those responsible for the attempt on the First Family's lives. After a week the First Lady was released from the hospital though she carried the signs of the attack for over a month before she was completely healed. The whole country rejoiced in her survival and the survival of her unborn baby.

She wore the scars of her wounds like badges of her ordeal, never shying away from the public scrutiny or questions about them. She said that they served to remind everyone how serious the threat of terrorism really was and how important the war on terror had become.

Throughout the rest of that summer things went fairly smoothly for the most part. There were two additional assassination attempts but they were both foiled well before those responsible were able to put their plots into action.

_**Continued in Part 7**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	7. A Novel Idea

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: <strong> **A Novel Idea**

Scott and Karen continued to correspond with increasing frequency throughout the summer. Karen informed him that Jonathon and Danielle had been spending an awful lot of time together since they met on the plane to D.C. and their romance was definitely blossoming. During this same period Scott and Karen's feelings for each other intensified despite the distance between them. Twice that summer Karen flew down to D.C. to spend a day with Scott.

Scott also closely followed all the news reports about the Wells-Chandlers. There was the occasional kook or nut that tried to cause problems for various publicly known members of the Chandler-Wells family but they were little more than a minor annoyance. The City of New York had taken the Wells-Chandlers to their hearts.

Around the middle of July the media finally took notice of the Jonathon and Danielle relationship but coverage was relatively light. The Alex and Alex story and the First Lady's pregnancy got far more coverage. But the biggest story was still the President's Global War on Terror. Over eighty percent of the world's nations were already on board.

It was late in August and Scott had a whole weekend off. He flew up to New York and spent the weekend at the brownstone. Most of that weekend was spent seeing New York with Karen.

They were walking through Central Park together enjoying each other's company. She had her arm through his elbow and her head against his shoulder and a comfortable aura had settled over them. They had been talking about what it had been like growing up in such an unusual family and the fact that her father and brothers had to hide their existence from the outside world had come up.

Scott had commented sympathetically. "It must have been so hard for your brothers being cooped up like that unable to ever leave the house."

She sighed. "It wasn't so bad. There was always the tunnels . . ." She suddenly stopped walking and her free hand came up to cover her mouth.

Scott felt her stiffen as she stopped. When he looked at her in surprise he saw a look of shock and fear in her eyes as she looked back at him. There was no doubt in his mind that she had just said something that she shouldn't have. He didn't have to be a genius to realize that it must have been the 'tunnels' reference that was the problem. Scott made a split second decision and gave her his best total confusion look. "Karen, what's wrong?" He shifted to worried. "Is it something I said?"

He played the very worried clueless act out until he had her working hard to convince him that he hadn't done or said anything wrong and she wasn't upset with him. By the time it was over, he had her convinced that he had not caught on to her slip. Soon everything had returned to normal though Scott did notice that she was a bit more careful about what she said to him. By the end of the day things had returned to normal and her wariness had faded away.

That night Scott lay in bed thinking about the incident. It made a kind of sense. Everyone knew about the older abandoned subway tunnels. There might be other long forgotten tunnels below the city as well. Maybe that was how the Wells-Chandlers had managed to stay hidden for over a century. There might even be a whole community hidden down there somewhere. If his assumptions were right then her 'tunnel' comment bordered on a huge secret and her reaction to that slip made sense. And Scott being a member of the Secret Service would have made her slip even worse in her eyes. Well he still planned to spend tomorrow with her and he wasn't going to let her family secrets get in the way of their time together.

~ x x x x x ~

It was very late in the evening, a week after his trip to New York, when Agent Scott Myers approached his supervisor's office in response to a rather mysterious summons. The summons had included an admonition to tell no one about this meeting. The halls were empty and the door to his supervisor's office was closed. It looked like there was nobody around but he could see light coming from under the door. There was something very disquieting about the secrecy that seemed to surround this situation. His thoughts wandered back to his suspicions about a hidden tunnel community under New York but he had told no one about that. He stepped up to the door took a deep breath then he knocked on the door.

There was an immediate response from inside. "Come in Agent Myers."

After a moment's hesitation, Scott opened the door and stepped in. He was surprised to see Nadara Brown, Nikki to those close to her, head of the Secret Service and Alan Stetson head of Q-Branch in the office with his supervisor. "You called for me, Sir?"

"Yes. Come in and take a seat Agent Myers." His supervisor responded, indicating a chair beside his desk.

Scott approached his supervisor's desk and the indicated seat. As he was sitting down he noticed the single folder sitting on his supervisor's otherwise spotless desk. He could clearly see the name '**Alexander Chandler-Wells**' printed in bold marker across the top of the folder and a large red '**TOP SECRET**' stamped across the front. Next to the folder he recognized a wedding invitation identical to the one that he had received from Alexandra's parents two days ago. He was now consumed with curiosity as he looked around at the others in the room trying to gauge their mood. The folder and wedding invitation clearly suggested the likely subject but their expressions were all totally neutral giving him no indication what the purpose behind this very unusual meeting might be.

His supervisor spoke first. "Agent Myers, I understand that you have been in fairly regular communication with Karen Chandler-Wells for several months. Is that correct?"

A bit startled by this unexpected question and by his supervisor's rigidly formal wording, it took Scott a moment to respond. "Yes Sir. That is correct." Now he was wondering if he had broken some rule or if there was something more serious, more sinister, going on.

"What would you say is the nature of this relationship and just how close would you say that you and this Karen have become?" His supervisor asked.

A bit uncertainly Scott replied. "We have become pretty close recently." He glanced around at all three of them trying to gauge their intentions. Right now he would have given his right arm for Alexander's ability to sense emotions. "Our relationship is becoming increasingly romantic in nature." Giving out this kind of personal information made him feel very exposed.

His supervisor nodded then continued. "In your communications with Karen, has the subject of Alexander come up?"

Scott blinked as he shifted gears again. This was not the direction he had thought this conversation had been heading and he was becoming more confused. "Yes, Sir. We often talk about what is going on with both of her brothers."

Nadara barely nodded at Stephen then faced Scott and asked the next question. "Based on your discussions with Karen and your own personal experiences with him, how would you characterize Alexander's personality?"

Scott thought for several seconds organizing his reply before he spoke. "Alexander is . . . very friendly . . . impulsive . . . fiercely loyal . . . and very protective of those he cares about." He smiled slightly remembering a few anecdotes he had heard from Karen. "He has a wickedly mischievous side." He paused again to consider what else he could say about Alexander that would be accurate and truthful without compromising any confidences. "He is extremely generous and he has a well developed sense of right and wrong. He put everything on the line, including his life and his family, when he stopped those terrorist from setting off that bomb in New York. All told, he is the type of person that I would be happy to call friend."

Nadara came back with another unexpected question. "But is he the type of person you would want at your back?"

Scott didn't even have to think about that one and responded immediately. "I can't think of anyone I would rather have at my back."

His supervisor looked at the other two, who both nodded nearly imperceptibly, then he again spoke. "How do you feel about the suggestion that Alexander be invited to join the Secret Service?"

Scott was caught completely off guard by that question and it again took a few seconds to reorganize his thoughts. "I can see one major problem with that idea. There is no way he can be anonymous so undercover work is right out the window." He shrugged. "This alone would normally be a serious detriment to someone becoming a Secret Service Agent.

Nadara, as the head of the Secret Service, spoke. "That is quite true but there is one job in this organization that he would be perfect for . . . Presidential Security. What do you think about this idea?"

Scot remarked with a ring of certainty in his voice. "My first reaction to that . . . is to request that he be placed on my team."

His own supervisor interjected. "So you think that he would do well in that capacity?"

Scott thought about how to respond for a moment. He smiled as he came up with what he thought was a pretty good answer and responded. "I saw a T-shirt once that said, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of death I fear no evil, cause I'm the baddest S.O.B. in the valley'." He shrugged and grinned. "That is Alexander in a nut shell." He leaned forward in his chair. "Alexander is stronger, faster and far more deadly in a direct hand to hand confrontation than any bastard that might contemplate assassination. And the incident on the Whitehouse lawn showed that he can normally sense the assassins well before they even have a chance to act. In a direct confrontation he could take out multiple adversaries before they even realized that he was taking action. Even though he truly hates the idea of violence against another, what happened in the basement of the Empire State Building is a perfect example of what he is capable of when forced by circumstances to act." Scott nodded decisively. "Yes, I think he would be the best person you could possibly find for that position." He paused a moment then hesitantly added. "Although I do not think it would matter to President Carlton, the one drawback I can see would be a future president's reaction to Alexander's ability to know what he was feeling . . . to know when he was lying."

All three glanced at each other then his supervisor spoke. "Thank-you for your candor, Agent Myers."

Nadara inquired. "What can you tell us about this emotion sense you mention in your reports?"

Scott responded. "I don't understand it but I've seen enough to know that it's real. Karen tells me that it's not really mind-reading in the classic sense. He doesn't know what you're thinking. He can only sense your emotional state. He could sense anger in you but he wouldn't necessarily know if you were angry at him or angry at the senator you saw on the TV an hour ago. That is how he and his male relatives were able to react so quickly to the assassins at the Whitehouse ceremony. They sensed the assassin's hostility and knew it was reaching the point of action. That is how they caught the terrorists unawares a split second before those terrorist were able to act. I already stated that he would also be able to tell if you were lying to him, which, combined with the intimidation factor, would make him invaluable in interrogations."

Nadara seemed to be thinking as she responded. "That is definitely something to consider."

Alan spoke up for the first time. "I understand that you have been invited to Alex-n-Alex's wedding. Are you planning to attend?"

Another sudden shift in direction left Scott blinking in surprise. He quickly reorganized his thoughts. "I would like to, if I can get the necessary time off."

His supervisor shook his head as he replied. "I'm afraid that your team will be busy escorting the President on that day."

Scott felt a flash of disappointment but his duty came first. "I understand, Sir."

His supervisor continued as he picked up the invitation laying on his desk. "President Carlton will be attending that wedding and he has specifically requested your team for that detail."

Scott immediately perked up. "Yes, Sir."

His supervisor fixed Scott with his gaze. "You understand that what we have discussed is not to leave this room."

Scott nodded. "I understand, sir"

"Fine, then you may go."

Scott stood up, nodded his acknowledgment, and left the room closing the door behind him. He leaned against the wall a moment to collect his wits. Did they really intend to invite Alexander to join the Secret Service and **start** him in the most coveted job in the agency? He shook his head. It would be unprecedented. It would certainly make a big splash in the media. He pushed himself off from the wall and headed down the hall.

As he walked along he kept thinking about what they had said and began to wonder just how serious they had been. He personally thought there were definite advantages to the idea but there also were a few glaring drawbacks. By the time he reached the parking lot Scott had become half convinced that it had all merely been a bit of speculation on the part of the three in that room and doubted that anything would really come of it.

~ o ~

Back in the small office Nadara spoke to Alan. "Do you still feel that this would be a good idea?"

Alan Stetson pointed to the file folder sitting on the desk as he addressed the head of the Secret Service. "Did you see the report on what Alexander did to those four terrorists in the basement of the empire state building?"

Nadara and Stephen both nodded their heads. Nadara had actually nearly broken out in a cold sweat the first time she had seen those pictures, just hours after the hospital news conference, and realized that the creature responsible for such carnage along with two others like him had just spent a couple of hours in the same hospital room with the President of the United States. Stephen had experienced a similar reaction while watching the televised news conference having seen the pictures earlier that morning.

Alan opened the folder and pulled out a picture and set it out in top of the folder. It showed the four dead terrorists and the shattered solid wood door. "The kind of strength speed and dexterity required to pull off what he did is incredible." He pointed to the picture. "My experts say that, based on the evidence, it appears that from the time he burst through that door to the time it was all over and those four lay dying at his feet could have been no more than two and a half seconds." He tapped the opened folder. "And don't forget what happened at the medal presentation on the Whitehouse lawn."

Nadara and Stephen both nodded in response to that.

Alan continued. "Basically, I feel the same way as Agent Myers. I spent the whole night with Alexander's family immediately after the New York incident and got to know them pretty well. In my opinion, Alexander, despite the obvious 'minor' drawbacks would make an excellent addition to the Presidential Security Detail."

Nadara turned to Stephen. "And what are your views on this."

Stephen nodded. "It was, after all, my idea." He tilted his head toward his office door. "Agent Myers' comments only served to strengthen my belief that it is a good idea." He pointed to the picture that they had just been discussing. "I was particularly influenced by Alan and Agent Myers assertions that Alexander strongly dislikes violence and it had taken very extreme circumstances to drive him to do that yet he had not hesitated when those extreme measures had been required."

Nadara gave one quick nod. "Very well. You get the ball rolling on the paperwork and I will speak to the President to be sure that he approves of this. If there are no complications I want to have this finalized before Alexander's wedding."

Alan jumped in. "There are a few minor details that I would like to look into as well."

~ x x x x x ~

Alan Stetson head of Q-Branch, Nadara Brown head of the Secret Service, and Stephen Charles head of the Presidential Security Division of the Secret Service were again in Stephen's office late in the evening. It had been a week since they had met to discuss the possibility of Alexander Chandler-Wells joining the Secret Service.

Nadara spoke first. "I talked to President Carlton and outlined our proposal to make Alexander a part of the Secret Service. He said that he thought that it was an excellent idea and gave his official approval. He admitted that he had been considering the same idea himself but had been unsure how I would take such a suggestion." She nodded with a sly smile. "The President also suggested that the offer should be made at the wedding reception and that Agent Myers would be the best person to deliver it, since he already has at least one connection to Alexander through his sister Karen."

Stephen responded. "That sounds acceptable." He pulled out a document from his desk drawer. "I have the official job offer right here."

Alan spoke next. "I knew that Alexandra was interested in a career in anthropology so I talked to the head of the Smithsonian Anthropology Department about her. He told me that he had already spoken to a couple of her teachers and was very impressed by her." Alan pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket. "This is an invitation for her to join the staff at the Smithsonian."

Nadara smiled. "That is a very good idea and it will be an additional inducement for Alexander to join our agency. We could have Agent Myers deliver both offers at the reception just before they leave on their honeymoon."

~ x x x x x ~

Agent Scott Myers was sitting directly behind the First Family in the Delacorte Amphitheater where Alexander and Alexandra were about to become husband and wife. On either side of him sat three of his team members. He glanced around at each of the strategic points throughout the open air theater. He was verifying that each one was occupied by one of his team of agents and that they were all on the alert. When Alex and Alex had begun planning this wedding, it was going to be a small affair over at the band shell. Once word got out, the bride and groom's families had been amazed that so many world leaders had expressed an interest in attending the wedding. It had been decided to move the wedding to the Delacorte in order to accommodate everyone.

Because of the size and complexity of this event and the fact that there were so many foreign dignitaries in attendance all six of the secret service Presidential Security Division teams were on active duty here today. Even the division supervisor, as well as the head of the Secret Service, were both here. Complicating the situation was the fact that scattered among the guests were several people in very unusual, almost medieval looking, clothing that couldn't be vetted because they didn't seem to exist on any known database. All that was known about them was that they were close friends of the bride and groom. And then there was the largest collection of Wells-Chandler lion-men that anyone had yet seen. Scott had counted thirteen adults and four children that displayed Vincent's leonine like heritage.

Scott surreptitiously checked his jacket pocket again, just to verify that the two envelopes were really there. He was still just a bit stunned by what their existence represented. He and his team had just joined up with the President's family in their hotel suite when his supervisor had shown up, pulled him aside and given him the two envelopes. One was for Alexander and contained an invitation to join the Secret Service. The other was for Alexandra and contained an invitation to an internship on the Smithsonian Anthropology Department with the option for a full time position when she got her Anthropology degree.

Scott was startled nearly out of his skin when the sound of a lion's roar shattered the relative quiet that had enveloped the amphitheater. As the echo's died away an answering cheer quickly spread through the audience. Then the happy couple headed up the aisle as the ceremony came to an end. While the rest of the agent's headed over to the adjacent field to set up security for the reception, Scott's team closed in to escort President Carlton and his family. So as not to cause a lot of inconvenience for the rest of those attending the wedding, Jerry Carlton elected to let the crowd thin out quite a bit before heading to the reception area.

~ o ~

It was Scott's turn in the break rotation and he immediately sought out Karen. He only had fifteen minutes and he wanted to spend it with her. Karen was talking to the current head of the Egyptian government when he walked up. She turned to look at him and a brilliant smile lit up her face. She then proceeded to introduce him to the rest of those in the small group.

The introductions complete, she again faced him. "So what did you think of the wedding?"

"Very impressive." He chuckled. "The roar surprised me though. I didn't know they could do that."

Karen laughed. "My family is just full of surprises."

Scott opened his mouth to reply when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Some unknown stimulus that he had not identified had impinged on the edge of his senses and his sub-conscious was warning him that something was wrong. Then he heard President Carlton call out his wife's name. An instant later he heard Alexander calling out for Doctor Peterson.

Scott whipped around and sprinted over to where the President's party was milling about. He arrived at the same time as Doctor Harold Peterson. "Let me through, I'm a doctor." The doctor announced. Scott recognized Doctor Peterson and stepped up using his authority as a Secret service Agent to clear a path through the crowd for the doctor.

Scot was shocked by the scene that greeted him as he reached the President. The First Lady was on her knees and partially doubled over with both President Carlton and Alexandra supporting her from either side. As Alexander backed away and Doctor Peterson knelt down in front of the First Lady, Scott noticed that the bottom of her dress and the bottom of the bride's dress were both stained in the pale red of blood mixed with water. Scott assumed that she had gone into labor but there seemed to be too much blood here.

"She's in far too much pain and the baby is in distress." Alexander reported as the doctor crouched down before the first Lady.

Scott was momentarily surprised at Alexander's pronouncement then he remembered the Wells-Chandler empathic ability and accepted the truth of his statement. Suddenly he was really worried about the health of the First Lady and her child.

President Carlton remarked worriedly. "Her last labor with Sandra only lasted twenty minutes."

Scott saw Doctor Peterson glance into The First Lady's pained face then down at the stain on the bottom of Alexandra's wedding dress. "We have to get her to the hospital **right now**." He stood up and faced Alexander the anxiety in his face plain for Scott to see. "Can you get her to the ambulance, fast?"

Without a word Alexander stepped forward and quickly scooped the First Lady up into his arms then replied. "Let's go." Scott had already begun clearing an opening through the crowd when Alexander raised his voice. "Coming through!"

Alexander took off at a fast trot across the field toward the amphitheater where there were two ambulances waiting in case of an emergency. Scott and his agents surrounded the President and they all took off at a fast run after Alexander and the First Lady. President Carlton and his escort of agents were pushing themselves to their limits just to keep up with Alexander.

As they ran across the field Scott was surprised and glad that President Carlton was able to keep up. He glanced at Doctor Peterson running just behind him and noticed the look of deep worry on his face then he spotted the bride pelting along at the back of the group, the pale red stain plainly visible on the bottom front of her wedding dress. "Hell of a way to run a wedding." He thought to himself.

He forced his attention to the task at hand. He relayed orders to his team between gasps for breath, trying to get everything organized to handle this new emergency. He spotted William out of the corner of his eye yelling out that he would take care of the kids then turn and head in the other direction. Scott felt relieved that there was one less thing to worry about. Over the com link, he assigned two of his agents to stay with William and the children and escort them to the hospital. The rest of the agents he put on escort and support duty. Then he quit talking and just concentrated on keeping up with Alexander who was loping along ahead of him at an easy trot while he continued to push himself to his limit. He was about to suggest to the President that he would go ahead with The First Lady and President Carlton could follow them as soon as he could make it. To his amazement he realized that even though he was running full out to keep up with Alexander, President Carlton had managed to continue to keep pace right beside him.

A minute and a half later they had reached the ambulance and as they loaded the First Lady into the ambulance Scott tried to direct President Carlton towards the limousine but Jerry Carlton, despite his obviously winded state, shook him off. "No, I'm going with my wife." And he determinately stepped into the ambulance and settled next to her.

_**Continued in Part 8**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	8. Changes and Beginnings

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: <strong>****Changes and Beginnings****

Doctor Peterson climbed into the First Lady's ambulance behind President Carlton and then motioned to Alexander to step in with him. "I need Alexander with me, he can sense the condition of the First Lady and the baby better than any of the instrument's I have handy. Right now that could very well be the critical factor in their survival." Scott looked at the crowded interior of the ambulance. He was very uncomfortable with the situation, and then his eyes and Doctor Peterson's eyes met. "We still have enough room for one Agent to ride in here with us." The doctor told him.

As Scott climbed in he glanced over his shoulder and saw Alexandra arrive out of breath. Panting heavily, she leaned against the ambulance door and looked past Scott at Alexander then spoke while still trying to catch her breath. "I'll wait . . . and ride over . . . with William . . . and the kids." She backed away from the ambulance and leaned against a light pole trying to catch her breath.

Two of Scott's agents closed the ambulance doors and within seconds the ambulance with its escorts of two Secret Service vehicles pulled out. Scott looked on nervously as Doctor Peterson begun a quick examination of Helen. "It's a breach." He announced. Scott's heart thumped. All he knew about a breach was that it was very bad. The doctor again spoke, his voice full of urgency. "We don't have much time." He began trying to turn the baby when another painful contraction hit causing Helen to cry out.

Alexander spoke up, panic in his voice. "Harold, I'm losing the baby, he's fading too fast. You gotta do something now! He's not going to make it."

His heart in his throat Scott was beginning to feel the stirrings of real panic as he looked from Alexander's face to Doctor Peterson's stern worried face to the President's fearful expression to the First Lady's pained expression. His attention returned to the worried face of Doctor Peterson as he was running a quick check of the portable monitor. Doctor Peterson shook his head. "Damn, you're right the situation has become critical. If I don't perform an emergency cesarean now I'm going to lose them both before we can arrive at the hospital." He turned to the ambulance paramedic. "Pull out the emergency surgical pack. You're going to have to assist me." The doctor then turned to the President. "I need you to hold her hand and give her your support and love. Keep her calm." To Alexander. "You help support her and keep me apprised of her and the baby's condition. Let me know of anything you detect. Also I need you to help hold me steady against the movement of the ambulance." He took the surgery kit from the paramedic then spoke to the First Lady. "I'm going to do an emergency cesarean. Don't worry; I've done this a few times before." He pulled a loaded syringe from the kit and injected the local anesthetic. "This will deaden the pain for the surgery but it won't do much for the contractions. Just hang in there Mrs. Carlton. I promise you everything will be just fine."

Scott saw Alexander place one hand against Doctor Peterson's back to help brace him against the motion of the ambulance. At this point he began to feel totally useless as he concentrated on staying out of everyone else's way. He was only here because it was his duty to stand guard over the President, though at this point he knew that it was only an empty gesture.

President Carlton spoke up, his voice betraying his worry and fear. "Do whatever you have to Doctor . . . Please just save my wife and child!" Helen gripped Alexander's other hand and her husband's offered hands tightly as another painful contraction hit.

Alexander spoke. "Harold, I think there is something around the baby's neck."

"The umbilical, Damn-it! That's what I was afraid of and the contractions are causing it to get tighter."

Scott was feeling just completely out of his depth right now but he felt the need to help. "What can I do?"

"Just do what you normally do and pray for a smooth ride." Doctor Harold Peterson replied as he began the operation.

As the doctor worked on the First Lady in quick precise movements Scott tried not to stare but it was hard to look away from the life and death event taking place less than four feet from him. Soon the doctor lifted the baby free and handed it over to Alexander then he and the paramedic quickly began to stitch the First Lady up.

At the same time Alexander turned toward Scott. "Can you help me clean him up?"

Scott grabbed a towel out of the open bin and helped Alexander wipe off the infant while they both checked him over. Then they felt the ambulance come to a stop and a second later the doors were pulled open.

The doctor and paramedic were joined by two orderlies and they rushed Helen to the emergency operating room. Two of Scott's men followed the First Lady's gurney while two other agents joined him as he handed the newborn baby boy to President Jerry Carlton. Scott, his two agents and Alexander escorted the president with his newborn son up to the second floor maternity ward waiting room. There the doctors and nurses quickly and professionally, processed, cleaned and dressed the newborn.

As the hospital staff were handing the newborn back to Jerry Carlton, William and Alexandra rushed into the waiting room bringing the President's children and trailed by two more agents. "How is she?" Alexandra asked. She paused as she looked at the newborn in Jerry Carlton's arms, curiously.

"She is going to be just fine." Doctor Peterson announced as he entered the waiting room. "She's in recovery and as soon as she wakes up she can have visitors." He turned and faced Alexander. "Thanks to your quick actions, at the park and your help in the ambulance, mother and son are both alive and doing well." He glanced at the baby and smiled before continuing. "There's a good chance we would have lost both otherwise." He gave Alexander's shoulder a friendly clout. "Thanks for your help."

Scott silently thanked God that Alexander had been there when it counted then smiled as Alexander and Alexandra embraced. Then Alexander looked at the doctor and responded "I'm just glad she's OK, Doc."

Doctor Peterson turned to President Carlton. "If you will follow me, I'll take you to Mrs. Carlton's room." Then he turned and led them out of the waiting room. Alexander stayed behind in the waiting room with Alexandra and the President's children. The doctor led them down the hall and to a room at the far end. Scott and the two agents with him joined the two agents already standing in the hall while President Carlton and Doctor Peterson entered the First Lady's room. Doctor Peterson left a short time later and after several more minutes returned with another doctor. She was introduced as Doctor Hamilton, the physician that had taken care of the President's wife in this hospital. Doctor Hamilton entered the First Lady's room and Doctor Peterson headed over to the nurses' station.

About a half hour later Doctor Hamilton came out of the hospital room. "Agent Scott Myers?" She looked at the five agents expectantly.

Scott stepped forward. "I am Agent Myers."

She stepped back holding the door open. "President Carlton wishes to see you." As Scott stepped through the door she spoke to the occupants of the room. "I'll be back by to check up on you and the baby." Then she left the room.

Scott approached the President standing beside his wife's bed. She was awake and holding her newborn baby and she was the first to speak. "Thank-you for watching over us today, Agent Myers."

Before Scott could respond, President Carlton spoke. "Are Alex and Alex still here?"

Scott responded. "I believe so sir but I'll check." Scott engaged in a quick discussion with his sleeve then continued. "Yes sir, they are both currently . . . playing with your children. William is also in the waiting room with them." He finished with a shrug.

Helen Carlton smiled and spoke. "Would you bring my other two children to me, please."

President Carlton added. "And ask William and the newlyweds to hang around just a bit longer while you're at it. We would like to see them after we have seen our kids."

"Yes, Sir."

When Scott entered the waiting room he had to fight the urge to laugh at the sight that confronted him. Alexander was on the floor with Alexandra and the president's children piled on top trying with some success to hold him down. William and the two agents were observing the action. William was laughing while the two agents were desperately trying to maintain their composure.

After a moment, to compose himself, Scott spoke. "Good you're still here. The First Lady is awake and doing well. I was sent to bring the rest of their children to them." He motioned to the other two agents to bring the children then as the wrestlers stood up and composed themselves he turned to William and the newlyweds. "You three don't go away just yet. The President and The First Lady both want to see you right after they have seen their kids." Then Scott and the two agents assigned to the children escorted them to their mother's room.

They entered the hospital room and saw their mother with her bed adjusted to a sitting position and the new baby was nestled in her arms. Their father was sitting on a tall stool next to the bed. As soon as the children saw their parents they ran over to them and were soon staring in fascination at the newborn baby in their mother's arms. It was a very joyous family that gathered around mother and child to acquaint themselves with the newest member of the family. Scott couldn't help getting just a tiny bit choked up as he observed the scene.

After about a half hour President Carton spoke to Scott. "Agent Myers, do you still have those two envelopes you were asked to carry for us?"

Scott quickly patted his jacket over the pocket containing the two envelopes. "Yes, Sir, I still have them."

President Carlton nodded his head. "Then would you please bring Alexander and his family to us?"

"Yes, Sir." Scott responded and exited the room. He went down the hall to the little waiting area and found Alexander and Alexandra at the far side of the room talking to William. They turned toward Scott as he entered. "The President wishes to see you three now." He told them simply.

As they were heading back to the First Lady's room it occurred to Scott that once he would have felt extremely nervous having Alexander and William in the same room with the President. Now he felt that that the President couldn't be any safer than when one of them was present. Interesting how much had changed in the last six months.

When they returned to the room both of the children were standing next to the bed and studying their new brother. President Carlton sat on the other side of the bed a satisfied smile on his face.

Helen spoke first. "I just wanted to thank you for all you've done for us." Her brows furrowed as she noticed the stain on Alexandra's wedding dress. "Oh my dear, your beautiful dress. It's been ruined."

Alexander shook his head as he responded. "It's no big deal. My father said that this is not the first wedding accident this dress has survived and the family has always found a way to repair it. I suspect it has many more wedding disasters looming in its future before it is finally retired." He smiled.

Alexandra jumped in enthusiastically. "This has been a wonderful wedding. I finally got Alex and I got to top it off by witnessing the birth of a new life." Her smile widened as she gazed at the newborn then she looked at the first Lady and there was a definite impish gleam in her eye. "And whenever my friends start talking about their wedding adventures, I will **always** be able to top them."

Scott hid a half smile as Jerry and Helen both laughed at her pronouncement. Helen looked up at her husband. "It certainly beats our wedding cake disaster."

President Carlton chuckled again then he became serious. "There is another reason why I wanted to see you besides to thank you three." He faced Agent Myers giving a short nod for him to take over. "Scott?"

Scott had been looking forward to this moment since the two envelopes had been entrusted to him. He cleared his throat and faced Alexander as he pulled the first envelope with the Secret Service emblem on it. "My superiors would like to offer you a position on the Secret Service Executive Guard Detail." Alexander, Alexandra and William all stared at him, stunned speechless, as he continued. "Your natural speed, strength and agility, combined with your ability to sense hostility and think fast on your feet would make you an excellent agent." He smiled as he handed the envelope to Alexander. "My superiors have been analyzing the videos from both of the previous incident's you have been involved in, as well as studying the reports from myself and my other agents. They feel you belong with us." He became more serious. "Of course you will have to pass the entrance physical and go through the standard training program." He chuckled. "Which you could do in your sleep." He was serious again. "When I heard about the intention to make the offer, I specifically asked that you be assigned to my group as soon as you finished training and they granted my request."

Alexander blinked a couple of times as he absorbed what had been said then he spoke up. "I think I would like that. It would be an honor to work with you." He thought a moment. "Alex begins this semester in two weeks. When would I have to be there?"

Scott smiled. "Don't worry you have plenty of time for your honeymoon. You could come to DC for the physical and preliminary training in October and November. That's when they evaluate the new recruits. Alexandra can come down to join you as soon as she finishes this semester . . . Speaking of which . . ." Scott pulled the second envelope out of his inside pocket. It had the Smithsonian Institute emblem on the upper left corner. "This is for you." He handed it to Alexandra.

William stood there looking on in amazement as he was trying to absorb what was happening to his very impetuous son. The son whose future he had always worried about seemed to be falling into a totally unexpected career. And now his son's new bride had just been given a rather official looking letter from the very prestigious Smithsonian Institute.

Scott sported a satisfied grin as, with shaky hands, Alexandra opened the envelope and began to read the letter. After about four and a half seconds, she squealed and threw her arms around Alexander's neck. "It's a letter from The Smithsonian. They want me to come and serve a one year internship, worth 25 hours of class credit, in the anthropology department of the museum."

Alexander put his arms around her. "That sounds like just exactly what you would love to do."

He shifted to her side and she held out the letter so that they could both read it together.

She continued to read aloud. "It also says, 'After the completion of the internship if you are willing you can work in a part time capacity at the institute while you finish up your degree. The institute will also make a scholarship available to you if you need it. If all parties are agreeable there is the potential of a full time position after you have received your degree.' Isn't that great? It's the kind of job I've always dreamed of."

Alexander grinned as he glanced over at Scott and the First Family. "I guess our future is going to end up being completely different than anything we ever expected or hoped for."

William approached the young couple, a suspicious glimmer in his eyes. "I can't tell you how proud I am of you both." He placed his hand on Alexander's shoulder. "At your naming day ceremony, Vincent told me that Alexander was a conqueror's name. He then quietly wondered what worlds you would one day conquer." He paused. "I wish Catherine and Vincent and your grandparents could have seen this day. It is the culmination of their most cherished dream."

President Carlton was now grinning from ear to ear. "You two kids better get started on your honeymoon." He looked over at his wife. "And we'll see you when you get back." He turned to Scott whose eyes also seemed suspiciously bright. "Agent Myres, why don't you escort our two young lovers down to one of our limos so they can get started on that honeymoon that we have delayed long enough."

"Yes, Sir." Scott replied then faced the couple. "Shall we go?"

As they started toward the door President Carlton called out. "A moment of your time William?"

William turned back. "Yes Mister President." He returned to the bedside as the other three left the room.

As they walked down the hall toward the elevator Alexander hooked his arm through Alexandra's elbow and looked over at Scott. "What do you think he wanted to see Dad about?"

Scott shrugged his shoulders as he replied. "I have no idea what he wants with your father." He pressed the down button at the elevator. "He probably just wanted to specifically thank William for looking after his kids during all this."

The elevator arrived and they stepped in. Scott noticed that Alexandra looked a bit dazed and Alexander smiled as he glanced over at her. Alexander then looked at Scott and remarked. "I think it's still sinking in." He pressed the button for the ground floor.

Alexandra seemed to emerge from her daze and looked at them both. "I never dared dream that one day I would get to work for a place like the Smithsonian."

Scott responded. "You're a national hero and your interest in anthropology has been covered by the media. Karen told me that you are very smart. It's not hard to believe that they noticed you and probably even talked to some of your professors."

The elevator arrived at the ground floor and the doors opened to several reporters being kept at bay by a group of police officers. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator the reporters began shouting questions. Over by the doors stood three men in limo driver's uniforms. They were the drivers of the limousines that had been designated for the use of the First Family and their Secret Service escorts. Scott signaled to one of them and he approached the small group.

Scott spoke to the driver. "Per President Carlton's instructions, you are to take these two wherever they wish to go. Once they no longer need your services you are to return here."

"Yes, Sir." He turned to Alexander and Alexandra.

Alexandra spoke first. "I guess the first thing is to get out of this dress and into some clean clothes."

"This way." The driver remarked as he led them out to his Limousine.

Scott turned and glanced at the collection of noisy reporters that had realized that Alex and Alex were about to leave the building. Some of them tried to follow after the couple but the police moved to delay them. The other two drivers followed the first driver out to the parking lot As Alex and Alex climbed into the first limo the other two drivers got into their limos and proceeded to rearrange their parking places. The few reporters that managed to get to their cars found themselves unable to follow the newlyweds because their way was blocked by the other two limos that were being re-organized. With an amused chuckle Scott headed back to the elevators. By the time he returned to the President's room William was just leaving.

"Did they make it off OK?" President Carlton asked as Scott entered the room.

Scott grinned. "Yes, Mister President. The other two drivers seemed to feel the need to shift their own vehicles and ended up blocking the parking lot in the process. No one else was able to get out of the parking lot for a couple of minutes."

The First Lady laughed and the President grinned at Scott's report of the parking lot antics. President Carlton suggested that Scott give himself and the rest of his team the next two days off. The third team, which had been acting as backup for Scott's team, was already on their way to take over and the second team had been called up from Washington to act as backup.

~ o ~

About an hour later, after turning his watch over to the replacement team, Scott made his way to the lobby of the hospital where he found Karen waiting for him. She strode quickly over to him as he stepped through the doorway and put her arms around him. "It took me a while to get away from the reception. How is Mrs. Carlton and the baby doing?"

"Mother and baby are both doing fine." Scott smiled at her as he continued. "And as of now, I have two days off."

Karen's eyes opened wide as she responded. "That is wonderful." She grinned. "What do you say we get out of here and I'll show you around New York."

Scott grinned back. "I think I would like that." He glanced down at himself. "But first I think that I should shower and change before I go out with you."

Karen nodded. "Makes sense. Why don't I drop you off at your hotel then you can come by the brownstone to pick me up after you are ready."

"Works for me." Scott replied. Then with a quick kiss they headed out of the hospital.

~ x x x x x ~

It had been a month and a half since the wedding of Alexander and Alexandra. Scott's mind was on last week when Karen had flown down to DC to spend the weekend with him. His very pleasant memories were interrupted by a summons from Stephen Charles head of the Presidential Security Division of the Secret Service as well as his supervisor.

He knocked and entered his boss's office. "You sent for me, Sir?"

Steven looked up. "Ah, Agent Myers, come in." He pulled open his right hand desk drawer as Scott stepped into his office and pulled out a folder. Scott glanced down and saw his own name at the top of the folder that his boss had just pulled out. Stephen pulled out a sheet of paper from the folder. "I have here a temporary transfer order for you to the Secret Service Training facility in Arlington Virginia." He grinned at his subordinate's surprise and uncertainty. "You are to serve as mentor for one of the new trainees. His name is Alexander Chandler-Wells."

_**Continued in Part 9**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	9. Training An Agent

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Training An Agent<strong>

**October**

Scott flashed his Secret Service I D at the airport security checkpoint and walked on through. A quick check showed the arrival time for the flight he was interested in that was in fifteen minutes and it was flagged as 'ON TIME'. He glanced around at the other occupants of the VIP arrival lounge. He recognized two congressional aides, someone from the state department and an aid to the Secretary of the Interior mixed in with the others that had influence or money enough to get access to this lounge. Scott went over to the bar and ordered a cherry cola, (no alcohol when he was expected to be on duty), and wandered over to the glass wall that afforded a panoramic outside view of the many arriving and departing aircraft.

Ten minutes later the intercom announced the impending arrival of the plane that he was here to meet. Scott watched in fascination as the plane turned off the taxi-way and approached the Jetway. A short time later the plane was parked, the Jetway attached, and two attendants had opened the inner doors to the Jetway. The level of babble as the passengers came up the Jetway was much louder than normal then the first of the passengers emerged into the arrival lounge.

Soon the passengers started filing out of the Jetway door. This time however instead of passing on through or looking around in search of a waiting contact, they all remained in the lounge milling around near the exit talking and watching the other passengers disembark. The level of conversation dropped dramatically and the crowd parted as Alexander and Alexandra along with another unknown couple came through the exit together. The small group of four passed through the crowd and was met with friendly greetings and well wishes as the crowd began to break up.

The four of them stopped about halfway between the Jetway door and the spot where Scott was standing. The woman stopped one of the other passengers and handed him a camera then the two couples stood close together while the anonymous man took their picture. After the anonymous man returned the woman's camera, the other couple momentarily embraced Alexander and Alexandra.

The unknown man spoke to Alexander. "I can't tell you how grateful I am for everything you have done for us."

The unknown woman jumped in. "We are both very grateful." She stood on tip-toes and gave Alexander a quick peck on the cheek then retreated blushing into the man's arms as Alexandra stood there hiding a grin behind her hand.

With one arm around the woman, the man then stuck out his other hand to Alexander who accepted and shook his hand. Then the man spoke again. "Take care and good luck to you both."

Alexander responded. "You take care and my best to you both as well." A last smile and the unknown couple turned and headed out toward the luggage area with the rest of the passengers their arms firmly wrapped around each other's waist and talking animatedly between themselves.

Scott made his way toward Alexander who looked straight at him and smiled. "Agent Myers, it's good to see you again." Alexander extended his hand toward Scott. "I take it you are here to meet us?"

Scott shook Alexander's hand as he replied. "I've been assigned as your mentor during your training." He looked at the other couple that was just disappearing through the doorway to baggage claim. "What was with that couple I saw you getting off the plane with?"

Alexandra grinned as she replied. "Alex, here, just saved their marriage."

Scott noticed Alexander roll his eyes as Alexandra chuckled at his reaction. "Is that so?" Scott remarked, a definite note of inquiry in his voice.

Still grinning broadly Alexandra proceeded to explain. "Jerry and Cristina were seated next to us on the way down. Alex sensed some tension between them and after a while got them talking. He could feel that they both loved each other but were feeling insecure so he started asking some leading questions. It turned out that their busy lives had been steadily coming between them making them feel a bit isolated from each other. Each one had become convinced that the other had fallen out of love so they were both beginning to distance themselves as well. Alex told them both exactly what emotions he had been sensing in them." She glanced lovingly at Alexander. "It was like watching the sun come out as they both realized that the other one was still very much in love with them. I think he may have saved their marriage." She chuckled. "I guess if this agent thing falls through, Alex can always get a job as a marriage counselor."

Scott barely smiled in response as he commented. "Maybe he could moonlight as a marriage counselor to Secret Service agents." Alexandra laughed as Alexander's eyebrows shot up toward his hairline. Scott continued looking directly at Alexander. "I'm only half kidding. Marital problems are one of the major factors in agent burnout." He turned toward Alexandra. "I hadn't heard that you were coming as well."

Alexandra nodded. "It was a last minute decision. I had a couple of days break in my classes so I came down with Alex. I'm going to meet with the people at the Smithsonian Anthropology Department and talk to them about my internship while I'm here." They headed out the door toward the baggage claim area.

After picking up their luggage, Scott took Alexander and Alexandra to the small upper class apartment that Danielle's grandparents had found for them. Because of Alexander's access to the family trust fund, he could easily afford it and the apartment building's security would allow him at least some measure of privacy.

After a quick tour of the apartment and a promise to pick up Alexander tomorrow, Scott left Alex and Alex to themselves and headed home.

~ x x x x x ~

The next two days were spent on physical and medical entrance exams. The medical exams were almost a joke. The doctors looked him over then came out of the examination room shaking their heads. After a lot of un-productive discussions and a lot of head scratching, they finally had to refer to the medical papers published by Alexander's mother and call the Chandler-Wells family doctor in order to figure out what was normal for him. The next day when they got back the blood test results they were again left scratching their heads and again had to refer to his mother's papers on the Wells-Chandler genetics to make sense of the results. In the end Scott had to laugh when the doctors admitted that, essentially, Alexander passed the medical exam because his mother said so.

The physical exam was also fun to watch. Alexander was able to breeze through the standard tests of strength and stamina without even raising his unusually slow heart rate. The examiners were already shaking their heads in disbelief when he started the dexterity portion of the tests. Their jaws were soon hanging open as Alexander consistently finished each test in less than half the fastest time previously recorded. Scott had twice seen Alexander in action and studied the reports of what had happened in the basement of the Empire State Building so he knew that Alexander had not even been pushing himself to accomplish those astonishing results.

On the morning of the third day Alexandra boarded the plane for her return to New York while Alexander reported for the written part of the entrance exam.

The man administering the exam was a rather bookish looking individual and tended to be very nervous in Alexander's presence. As a result he tended to keep his distance during the testing. Though nowhere close to perfect, Alexander managed to get a passing grade on the written exams despite the fact that the examiner was extra harsh on his grading.

~ x x x x x ~

The self defense instructor, a young tough boxer type, had been informed that he had a new student joining his 'Hand-to-Hand Basics' class today. He had no idea what the administrator could be thinking. His class was already halfway through the course and now the higher ups expected him to take on a green newcomer? How could they expect him to get the late newcomer up to speed with the rest of the class and continue to keep the rest of the class from losing ground while doing this? He glanced over at the sound of the gym door opening and his jaw fell open in surprise.

Alexander approached the large double doors to the gym. The temporary sign on the right hand door said '**Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat Class**' in large block letters. He entered the gym and was immediately the center of attention. There were about a dozen people already in the room, all looking at him, as well as a few more coming in behind him.

After a few moments of stunned silence one of those already in the room came over to Alexander. He was wearing a name tag that identified him as the hand-to-hand self-defense instructor. The man looked Alexander up and down, his gaze stopping at Alexander's clawed hands, his eyes widening significantly. Alexander sensed incredulous amusement from the man. The instructor shook his head and remarked. "Don't bother to suit up. You already graduate with honors." He grinned, nodded once then turned and returned to where the rest of the class was gathering. Alexander could hear him mumbling as he walked back toward the other students. "What the hell did they expect me to be able to teach to someone that's already a walking weapon."

After standing there a few seconds in stunned surprise, a bemused Alexander finally turned and left the gym. He ran into Scott outside the building. "What happened in your self-defense class? Why are you out here?" Scott inquired.

Alexander laughed as he brought up his hands with their dangerous looking claws. "The instructor took one look at me and said that I passed the class."

Scott also laughed. "I see." He nodded. "Then I suggest we go to the front office and see what they have for you."

After a quick discussion at the main office, it was decided to try Alexander in the Advanced Hand-to-Hand combat class. It was too late in the day to join that class and, after lunch, Alexander went to his Secret Service Procedures class.

~ x x x x x ~

Scott met Alexander the next morning and together they walked to the 'Advanced Hand-to-Hand Combat' class.

The instructor, who looked to be in his sixties, raised his eyebrows as he saw Scott and Alexander approach the class. He grinned as he stepped over to meet them. "Scott it's good to see you again. You here for a refresher course?"

Scott shook his head. "No Sir, I'm just here as an observer today. Alexander is your student."

The instructor looked Alexander up and down a moment then spoke. "I've heard a lot about you and I've seen many of the videos of you in action. I also hear you're a pretty tough individual." He cocked his head. "So, do you think I can teach you anything?" There was just a hint of challenge in his voice.

Alexander shrugged. "That is why I'm here."

The instructor nodded, pleased by his response. "Join the class then."

Scott went over to sit on the sidelines while Alexander joined the class.

After a quick round of introductions, the instructor singled out Alexander for use in a demonstration. Scott was thinking that this should be interesting. Though the instructor had always been unbeatable in hand to hand confrontations, Scott doubted that anyone could triumph over Alexander's strength and speed. The next instant Alexander was flat on his back looking very surprised as the instructor remarked to the class that the power of your opponent was no match for training and skill. Scott had recognized the maneuver as one of the first that he learned in this class.

The instructor turned to Alexander as he popped back up to his feet. "Now let's see what you've learned from this."

Again the instructor attempted the same throw against Alexander and again he wound up flat on his back only this time he immediately rolled back to his feet.

The instructor continued. "As you can see even when your opponent is expecting it, this maneuver always succeeds because the forces and momentum, the basic physics if you will, involved cannot be resisted."

They tried it one more time and again Alexander went flying only this time he executed a twist in mid air and came down squarely balanced on his feet and facing the instructor. The instructor stared back, stunned at Alexander. He had taught his students a few ways to avoid that particular move but this he had never before seen anyone successfully counter that particular throw.

As class progressed Scott made a few interesting observations. Any new maneuver that the instructor might introduce had about a fifty-fifty chance of working against Alexander but it never was successful twice. Alexander was a very quick study. Teaching Alexander how to execute martial arts throws was a waste of time because he could simply pick up any opponent and throw him against the nearest wall so the instructor concentrated on teaching him counter moves.

The instructor tried to learn some of the countering maneuvers that Alexander occasionally came up with on his own but soon realized that he just didn't have the speed and dexterity necessary to do it the way he did.

~ x x x x x ~

Scott and Alexander looked out over the large area of buildings commonly referred to as Dodge City. This is where they were tested in simulated real world situations. Scott was just a bit worried about how well Alexander would do in this exercise. This was the first time that Alexander would use his firearm outside of the target range. Alexander's performance on the target range had been mediocre at best. His claws made using a gun a bit awkward for him.

The test moderator was giving last minute instructions. "Remember, you will have a very limited time to locate, evaluate and hit your target before it goes away. It is just as important to protect the innocent as it is to take out the bad guys. Hitting an innocent will cost you more than missing an enemy. Also always remain aware of how many full clips you have remaining. You don't want to run out of ammo before you finish the course. Though the time it takes you to complete the course is accounted for in your score, don't sacrifice accuracy and judgment for speed." The moderator clapped Alexander on the back. "Don't forget to check your weapon before you move out. You start when the horn sounds."

Scott and the instructor moved away and entered the control room with the course moderator.

"Now we'll see how well he handles himself under pressure." The moderator commented as he turned on the control board.

Scott looked up at the man in surprise. "Have you seen the news reports of him in action?"

The moderator looked back at Scott. "What?"

"That is Alexander out there. He has twice saved the life of the President. He stopped terrorists from setting off a nuclear bomb. He helped deliver the President and First Lady's new baby under difficult circumstances. He's already seen more action under stress than most of the agents in this organization."

The moderator stared at Scott in surprise. "That's him?"

The start horn sounded and several prominent green lights turned red. Alexander stepped through the archway onto the course moving quickly among the buildings.

Scott grinned. "That's him."

Their attention was drawn back to the screens by the sound of a gunshot followed immediately by a second shot. Alexander scanned his surroundings and started moving forward again. As they watched Alexander swung around and froze. After a second he turned back and resumed his forward progress.

"So far, so good." The moderator commented. "It did take him two shots to get the first target but he refrained from shooting his first innocent." Alexander swung to his left and three more shots rang out. The moderator shook his head. "He is reacting very fast but it takes him too many shots to get his target. You start with the exact number of rounds needed to complete the course plus one extra clip. At the rate he's using up ammo, he's going to run out of . . ." The moderator stopped as he stared at the screen in stunned surprise. "How did he do that?"

Scott had been looking at the screen and saw what had happened. Alexander had leaped a low barrier and raked the target with his claws before it had finished rising into position. As Scott, the instructor and the moderator continued to observe the video screens in fascination Alexander quickly made his way through the course. Whenever possible Alexander took out the bad guys with his claws, only using the gun when they were too far away to reach. It was soon obvious that he was much faster and more accurate with his claws than with the gun.

After a while Scott asked the moderator. "Just out of curiosity, what is the fastest solo time on this course?"

The moderator reluctantly dragged his attention from the display screens and seemed for a moment to be lost in thought. "Ah . . . The fastest solo time through this course with a perfect score was forty-five minutes, set three years ago, just before I started working here. It was set by an agent named, ahh . . ." He blinked twice seemingly staring into space. "Scott Myers I believe was his name." The moderator then returned his attention to the screens totally unaware of Scott's surprised reaction to his comment and the instructor's smothered laugh. Then he shook his head. "Damn, he moves so fast."

Alexander passed through an archway at the end of the group of buildings and a horn hooted three times as the red lights turned green. The moderator stared at the control panel open mouthed. The timer display showed 31:03 and the two grading displays beside it showed 100. Finally the moderator shook himself. "I don't believe it. Alexander just completed it in thirty-one minutes and gets a perfect score . . . and he still has more than half his ammo left."

~ x x x x x ~

A little over a week later Scott and Alexander stood at the beginning of the Dodge City course with four other students. All of them were wearing bullet-proof vests and wrap around goggles. The moderator stepped up to the group and began speaking.

"OK, today we will be running the standard guard detail scenario. Agent Myers will be the subject being protected and Trainee Chandler-Wells will be the team leader. The opposition will be played by real agents and all participants will be using live ammo firing paint pellets rather than bullets. The one change we are making to the standard scenario is that the team leader will not be carrying a weapon on this run." He glanced at Alexander. "Your only goal is to get the subject safely to the car at the other end of the course." He swept them with his gaze.

The horn sounded and the group stepped cautiously out making their way into the course.

After about ten seconds Alexander halted them and pointed to the left. "There is someone in that building. Bill, swing out toward that building and stay alert."

When the agent waiting in ambush stepped out, much to his surprise, the trainee took him out before he had even cleared the corner of the building much less bring his weapon to bear. The trainee returned to the group grinning in triumph.

"OK, don't get too cocky and keep alert." Alexander admonished him. "And be sure you identify your target before you fire. If that had been an innocent, we would have just taken a major hit to our score."

Properly chastised Bill took his place in the group. They then continued forward as Alexander continuously scanned the area for presences. He also set one of the trainees, named Otto, out slightly ahead of the group to look for signs of any unmanned traps. Shortly after a false alarm from Otto, Alexander again brought the group to a halt.

As they crouched behind a short wall Alexander spoke to the trainees. "Otto, it's better to stop for a false alarm than be caught by a missed trap, so don't worry about that mistake. Jeff, Sara sweep out to the left and check out that building over there and be very careful. There appears to be three in that building so you will need the advantage of surprise. Otto, I want you to check that green building a little farther down on the right. There is only one person in that building. Bill, you and I will stay here and guard the subject. And all of you verify your targets before you fire."

Otto caught his assassin and took him out, though it took him three shots to do it. Jeff and Sara caught their three totally by surprise. It was a male and two females. Sara shot the male. Jeff was about to shoot one of the females when something he saw on her chest made him shoot the other female instead while calling out, "Don't shoot," to Sara. The other female had a sign on her chest that said 'Subject's Daughter' in large letters. They took her back with them.

Alexander took the new complication in stride. As they made their way through the Dodge City course it quickly settled into a routine. Alexander would sense the presence of the agents and send one or two of the trainees around to surprise them and take them out. About a third of the agents that they encountered had been designated as 'innocent bystanders' and so far Alexander's team had managed to avoid killing any innocents.

They were close to the end of the course, the car they were trying to reach in sight, when Alexander sensed a dozen presences in one of the buildings ahead of them. There was no way to make it unobserved past the building in question. He chose a protective area to take refuge. First he sent Sara, who seemed to be the stealthiest of the four to try and scout out the situation. Alexander would have been a better scout, but as the team leader he had to stay with the subjects being guarded. A short time later Sara returned and reported that she could reach the building access without difficulty but was unable to get close enough to a vantage point to check out the situation inside the building without exposing herself and there was no way to get around the obstacle. After a short discussion Alexander decided that he had no choice but to send all four of his trainees in to clean out the building before they could continue. With a resigned sigh he finally sent them out with instructions to be extra careful and verify each target before shooting.

After about three minutes Alexander sensed a new entity coming from behind them, moving quickly and stealthily, between the closely packed buildings in this part of the course. Alexander and his charges were trapped between the group in the building in front of him and the possible assassin sneaking up behind them. There was no time for his team to clear out that building in front of them and their current position left them nowhere to run. He shifted their position in the limited area available to them, getting both subjects under as much cover as he could arrange under the circumstances. Then he placed himself at the near corner and waited. When the stalker came around the corner Alexander went into action. He grabbed the agent's gun hand, forcing the gun up and away while at the same time he raked his claws across the agent's armored chest right where the word 'ASSASSIN' was printed with enough force to knock him back against the wall. The downed agent was unharmed, other than being a little shaken up, but his armored suit had taken severe damage from Alexander's claws.

A few hundred feet away in the main control booth the course moderator stared at the view screen in stunned shock. His jaw hung open in disbelief as he tried to process the sudden violence that he had just seen.

A few minutes later the four trainees returned. The building had contained nine innocent hostages and three gunmen. The trainee team had caught them by surprise and took all three hostiles out with no loss of the hostages. The way was now clear and they made it to the waiting car with no trouble. The red lights turned green and the horn sounded the end of the exercise.

Back at the control shack the moderator continued to stare at the screens in stunned shock.

_**Continued in Part 10**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	10. Evaluations

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: <strong>Evaluations<strong>**

Scott sat in the training center's break room staring at the slowly cooling sweet roll lying uneaten on the paper plate. He absent-mindedly took another sip of his coffee. He was still mulling over what he had seen in the video replays of yesterday's Dodge City run through with Alexander and his team of trainees. He was trying to work out exactly how he should word his evaluation report. He had watched the final five minutes of that exercise several times over trying to get it straight in his head exactly what had happened. It had happened so fast that it was over before he realized that something was happening. He remembered how shocked he had been the first time he had watched it and how he had desperately searched the images for a logical explanation for Alexander's actions. Eventually, as he closely studied the video he began to believe that he understood what had really happened and why Alexander had done what he did. A short talk with Alexander had confirmed his suspicions but would his superiors accept his view of the incident.

A movement out of the corner of his eye startled him out of his thoughts and he looked up in surprise to see Stephen Charles, his supervisor, standing at the break area doorway. "Sir! Ah, what can I do for you?" Scott asked as he stood up.

"Don't let me interrupt your breakfast Agent Myers." His supervisor grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down across the table from Scott. "I saw the tapes from yesterday's Dodge City run through with Alexander's group. Trainees Jeff, Bill, Otto and Sara all performed admirably. They did an excellent job of differentiating between combatants and non-combatants. Alexander also displayed excellent leadership skills in that exercise." Stephen cocked his head raising his eyebrows. "It was pretty obvious from the videos that Alexander appeared to know where everyone was ahead of time. The instructor made a note of that in his report. Though he didn't come out and say so, I think he found that just a bit suspicious."

Scott nodded. That particular aspect of yesterday's exercise was something that he could easily explain though not everyone would be willing to accept his explanation. "That was Alexander's empathic sense. He was able to detect the presence of the other agents just before his team reached the areas where those agents were hiding. He can sense their location fairly accurately as well as how many there were. The only thing he couldn't tell ahead of time was whether or not they were hostile since all of them were pretty much of the same emotional state-of-mind. In the field it would be a lot easier for him to differentiate between hostile and non-hostile by their emotional state."

Stephen grinned. "I'd like to see the reactions you'll get when you put that explanation in your report."

"Like it or not, it's the way it is." Scott shrugged. "I just report it as I see it."

Stephen leaned forward and his face took on a more serious expression. "The attack on Agent Spencer near the end of the exercise, however, concerns me just a bit. I saw the damage to his body armor."

Scott nodded his understanding, remembering again how surprised and disturbed he had been the first time he had seen that particular incident and it had required a much closer look to make sense of it and ease his mind. Now he would find out if his explanation would find acceptance. "There's nothing to worry about, Sir. I watched the video of it several times to assure myself that I understood what really happened." Scott knew that he had to explain this right if he wanted it to be accepted and this would be his test run. "If you compare that video with the recordings of the incident at the medal ceremony you will see that he was moving at less than a quarter of the speed that he is capable of. Also if you check the body armor closely you will see that the claw marks begin almost exactly an inch inside the edge of the armor and end an inch before the opposite edge. That strike was extremely controlled and precise. Alexander knew exactly what he was doing. Though he had already grabbed Spencer's gun, because of the course's safety rules, he couldn't use it at that close range. Alexander was being extremely careful to insure that that strike would be an obvious kill without doing any harm to Agent Spencer."

Stephen thought about that for a few seconds then nodded his acceptance of Scott's evaluation. "I'll include your observations in my report. I will also apprise the instructor of your explanation of Alexander's apparent advanced knowledge of the course. I've been following his progress and it looks like Alexander is going to pass his training with high marks. Though his response to that encounter is problematic, it does your evaluation shows that it was careful and well thought out."

Scott felt slightly emboldened by his supervisor's remarks and decided to ask. "Have they decided yet what they are going to do with Alexander after he graduates?"

Steven smiled at Scott's slightly anxious curiosity. "We are going to put him through the standard two weeks of special orientation, and then he will be assigned to your team." His grin widened at the look on Scott's face. "As you should realize there are only two places in this organization where he could be readily accommodated. It has to be either Management or Presidential Security Detail. Management would be a real waste of his abilities and I don't particularly want to give up my position at this time, so it's Presidential Security. I have noticed that you seem to understand him. You appreciate his strengths, you're not afraid of him and you are the best team leader I have, so your team is the logical choice."

After a stunned moment Scott shook off his surprise and returned his supervisor's smile. "Thank-you, Sir. I really think that he will be a major asset to my team."

"I know he will, Agent Myers, and I hope you realize that this will also make your team the prime choice for the riskier assignments. You will find yourself and your team in the hot seat when the situations are deemed to be hazardous."

Scott nodded his understanding, his sober acceptance of his supervisor's statement showing on his face. "I wouldn't have it any other way, sir." He let a hint of a smile slip through his serious expression. "It should make for an interesting career for both Alexander and me."

Stephen leaned back in the chair looking more relaxed. "So, any plans for Thanksgiving now that training is over?"

Scott grinned. "Karen is coming down for the holidays."

"Isn't that Alexander's sister?" Stephen cocked one eyebrow.

"Yes, sir." Scott replied. "Actually she is his cousin on his mother's side but her mother died in childbirth and William took her in so she is his adopted sister."

"Does this mean that there are emotional entanglements between you and Alexander's sister?" Stephen asked.

Scott's grin widened. "I certainly hope so, Sir."

Stephen chuckled. "As long as it doesn't affect the performance of your team." He stood up. "Carry on Agent Myers." He turned and left the room.

Scott let out a sigh of relief after his supervisor was gone. That had gone much better than he had hoped. Alexander was to be accepted into his team. And his supervisor apparently had no problems with his relationship with Alexander's sister. He had also been told that his team was now to be the primary team. Things were definitely looking up as far as his own career was concerned. It also looked like Alexander was already on track for a very illustrious career in the service as well.

Scott quickly finished off his breakfast and headed back to his dorm room. He had an evaluation report to write.

~ o ~

After he finished his report, Scott checked out the internet to see what the latest was on the Wells-Chandlers. Although the family name was Chandler-Wells, a misunderstanding by a prominent biologist had resulted in the media and the scientific community using the term 'Wells-Chandlers' when referring to the leonine descendants of Vincent. The first thing he found was several articles reporting that Alexander was in Washington DC and was being trained by the Secret Service. Scott figured that he should have expected that. Alexander was too high-profile to remain unnoticed for long.

Scott read some of the comments below the articles (there were plenty of comments). They were mostly positive. Several of them pointed out Alexander's actions in defense of the President at the medal presentation ceremony. They claimed that Alexander had already proven his ability to protect the President from assassination. Others pointed out the well documented heroism that Alexander displayed in the United Nations General assembly last January. There were some negative comments though they were definitely in the minority. Most of the negative comments tended to be fairly intense and generally made their writers come off sounding like ignorant superstitious fools or hyper-religious nut cases. Besides being the most unique agent in the Secret Service, Alexander was also going to be the most famous and most controversial.

Scott also found several articles about supermodel Emily Hanson and Devin Chandler-Wells. They were all speculating about the identification of the Wells-Chandlers that had appeared in the Halloween fashion show that was now known to have actually been Emily's wedding. Though mostly retired for the last few years, Emily was suddenly very much in demand again, and her husband Devin had even gotten a few modeling offers from a couple of clothing designers.

There were even a few articles about the relationship between Alexander's brother Jonathon and Danielle Holt. The media had become aware of their growing relationship and were starting to follow the new romantic pair. Karen had told Scott that in this case the media was trailing well behind, where that relationship was concerned, and scrambling to catch up.

Finally he shut down his computer since he had to get ready for Karen's visit tomorrow.

~ x x x x x ~

It was the day before Thanksgiving and the air terminal was extremely crowded. Scott gazed out the glass wall of the arrival and departure lounge as he waited for Karen's plane to arrive. Just yesterday he had seen Alexander off to New York from this very same spot. There were certain very nice perks to his position on the Secret Service, like being able to wait inside the lounge. He spotted what he thought might be her plane moving along the taxi way and felt a distinct sense of anticipation. He smiled. No doubt about it. He told himself. He had it bad. The aircraft swung around and headed toward his location, confirming his guess. His anticipation increased as the plane got closer and he found himself getting decidedly antsy as the jet-way was docked to the side of the plane.

A few minutes later a huge grin broke out on his face as he spotted Karen coming out of the jet-way. Moments later her eyes lit up as she spotted him and she waved to him. They quickly made their way toward each other through the crowd and met in a big hug. After several seconds they pulled back and then kissed.

They broke from the kiss and, keeping one arm around her waist, Scott led her to the baggage claim area.

While they waited for her luggage, Scott filled Karen in on the latest news about Alexander including the news that Alexander was going to be assigned to his team.

Karen looked puzzled. "I thought you said that it took a a lot of time and seniority to get on a Presidential detail."

Scott shook his head. "This is a very special case. Normally Secret Service agents strive for anonymity." He grinned. "It is after all the '**Secret** Service'." He cocked his head. "But Alexander is as conspicuous as you can get, so covert operations are pretty much out of the question and his physical abilities make him perfect for security detail. There is no doubt that Alexander is going to stand out where ever he goes so I will probably put him right out front, next to the President. That's where he would be most effective anyway."

"Alex is certainly making the family proud. He and Jonathon are the major sources of conversation and pride within the family now-a-days." She grinned and slipped her hand into his. "You've become a major topic around the table as well."

"I hope it isn't all bad." Scott responded with a raised eyebrow. "Wouldn't want the men in your family mad at me."

Karen laughed. "Not a chance. They all know that I'd kill'em if they messed with you."

Scott chuckled as he pictured Karen standing up to and berating one of the huge powerful leonine males in her family. He glanced over at her a moment then decided that maybe the idea wasn't all that farfetched after all. She certainly had plenty of self possessed spirit in that compact pleasant to look at package.

After a few steps she continued. "Actually the general evaluation of you, among the rest of my family, is that you're a pretty nice guy and that I'm a lucky girl." She glanced over at him a bit shyly.

Scott shrugged, smiling at her. "I thought I was the lucky one."

She smiled back, a hint of pink on her cheeks then looked down a moment before looking back over at the baggage carousel. "Here's my bag." She called out as a zebra striped soft sided suitcase came into view and she grabbed it.

~ x x x x x ~

The next morning they drove down to Arlington and spent Thanksgiving with Scott's family. Karen was asked a lot of questions about her own very unique family and happily bragged about them. They stayed the night at Scott's sister and drove back to Washington the next morning. During the trip Scott remarked to Karen that his whole family had found her charming and heartily approved of her.

The rest of the Thanksgiving holiday was spent exploring Washington, including several very romantic out-of-the-way locations. Some making out was involved. On Sunday afternoon Scott saw her off at the airport. This had been the best Thanksgiving he could remember.

~ x x x x x ~

The morning of December fifteenth dawned bright and cold and Alexander proudly accepted the document that certified that he was a fully fledged agent of the United States Secret Service. The head of the service offered him her congratulations. He was also told that he had two weeks leave. He would be assigned to his new post right after the beginning of the year. Scott was reassigned back to his team.

That evening Alexander caught a plane straight back to New York. He told Scott that he would be bringing Alexandra back with him when he returned the day after New Years, so that she could begin her internship at the Smithsonian.

On the nineteenth Scott was informed that the President was going to spend Christmas vacation at Camp David and Scott's entire team was also given leave until January third. The next day he called Karen to see what she had planned for the next week and a half. She told him that she would be away on the twenty-first and twenty-second at a special family gathering but she would be free the rest of the time. She told him that she was planning on going to spend the week between Christmas and New Years at a little Bed and Breakfast with some of her family and that she would like it if he could come along with her. They made plans for Scott to fly up on the twenty-third to meet her. She told him to bring a week's worth of warm clothes and would take care of everything else.

~ x x x x x ~

Scott made his usual check of the internet reports on the Wells-Chandlers and found out that Devin and his supermodel wife Emily were going to fly off to Paris to spend Christmas with some friends from the fashion industry. Though semi-retired and a grandmother, Emily was still stunning and in demand. Her husband Devin had also appeared with his wife on a recent ad campaign for a new super hip line of clothes. The irony of Emily and Devin modeling clothes intended for the twenty-something set was not lost on Scott. In fact the ad campaign was playing up this dichotomy with a bit of humor.

Scott glanced over at his packed bags and shut down his computer. Ten minutes later he was heading out the door and on his way to the airport. His tickets were waiting for him at the service counter and they were not for New York. An hour later he was in a little regional jet headed for a small Regional Airport at a place called Hagerstown, about three hundred miles from New York near the Maryland - Virginia border. During the hour long flight he learned from his fellow passengers that there were several popular vacation spots located just west of the small community. As the plane began its final approach Scott gazed out the window at the snow covered Landscape Below.

A short time later he was standing in the tiny air terminal scanning the small crowd for a familiar face. Then he saw Karen. As she made her way toward him, he then realized that she was being escorted by a man in a police officer's uniform. The uniformed man stayed back a few feet as she stepped up to Scott. Karen grinned. "Scott, I'm so glad you came." She threw her arms around him and pulled him close for a kiss. The police officer was pointedly not watching them.

After a short time they broke then she stepped back and turned partway toward the officer. "Scott, this is Sheriff Mathew Dillon." Scott nearly choked as he bit down on the urge to comment on the officer's name. "He and his wife own the Bed and Breakfast where we are staying. Matt had to come into Hagerstown to pick up some supplies for the inn and offered me a ride." Then she addressed the officer. "Matt, this is Scott Myer, my Secret Service Agent. He will be Alexander's team leader."

Scott held out his hand, trying to keep a straight face. "Pleased to meet you."

Matt smiled a, glint of amusement in his eyes, and took his hand. "Same here." He glanced at the grey skies through the terminal windows. "Let's get your luggage and head back to the inn before that storm front comes in."

It was a matter of minutes to retrieve his bags then he and Karen were squeezed into the front of the sheriff's loaded SUV for the ride back to the inn

Scott spotted the roof of a building through a break in the trees just ahead when Matt slowed down then pulled off the highway. A short distance up the access road there was a sign that read "**Dillon Bed and Breakfast**". Below that sign was attached a small plank that read, "**Closed through Christmas**" . Sherriff Matt Dillon turned onto the curved drive that branched off from the highway access road and soon pulled up in front of a large picturesque three story mansion that had to be over a hundred years old. There was a slightly larger version of the "**Dillon Bed and Breakfast**" sign at the edge of the wide curved gravel driveway in front of the old mansion. Next to the old converted mansion, and attached to it by a breezeway, was a much newer one story building. In front of that building was a sign that read "**Katy's Restaurant and Pub**". Another hard to miss item was a giant ten foot tall snowman that stood in the middle of a large open area in front of the old mansion. It was a real snowman, not some blow up Christmas decoration

As they got out of the police car a pretty dark haired woman came out of the mansion to greet them and invite them in. The woman was introduced as the Sheriff's wife Katy.

The large front common room was filled Christmas decorations, Christmas music and some very interesting people. There were a bunch of young children running around including four leonine boys ranging in age from around two to about six. There were also six adult leonine males. Scott recognized Peter Chandler-Wells, who had written so many popular children's books. He also spotted Daniel, Thomas and Paul, the three sons of Devin Chandler-Wells and Emily Hanson. The other two leonine males were unfamiliar to him.

Scott and Karen had become the center of attention as they entered the main room. Scott had the distinct feeling that he was being evaluated by everyone in the room. Karen addressed the room. "Everyone, I'm sure all of you have met or heard of my boyfriend, Scott Myers of the Secret Service." There was a definite note of pride in her voice. Scott was quickly introduced to those in the room.

There was Peter and his wife Cherry that he had met at Alexander's wedding and their two sons, David and Russell.

Russell introduced his relatively new wife Stevie, a five foot-six, very pretty, medium dark skinned girl with a round open face and a hint of the oriental to her eyes that reflected her open happy smile. Scott could almost hear a hint of laughter in her voice as she greeted him.

David, in turn, pointed out two leonine boys, Phillip, six, and James, four, that came over to get a closer look. Following behind the two boys was David's daughter, Patricia, a little toddler of two, who looked up at Scott with wide curious eyes and asked Scott if he carried a gun.

Scott chuckled and replied. "Not when I'm on vacation."

At that moment a petite blond haired woman entered the common room carrying a tray full of treats and humming along with the Christmas music. Scott noticed that her long blond hair almost completely covered the left side of her pixie like face, and the husky, rough quality to her voice. Her dark eyebrow, deep brown eye and slightly medium complexion led Scott to suspect that Blond was not her natural hair color. Then he noticed her left arm and hand that were badly scarred as though they had been severely burned. Scott wondered if the damage extended to the hidden side of her face. David stepped over to her, put his arm around her and introduced her as his wife, Sparrow.

Sparrow smiled shyly at Scott. "Pleased to meet you."

Scott tried very hard to not reaction to her scarred state as he smiled back. "It's a pleasure to meet you." The increased smiles around him and Karen's gentle squeeze of his hand told Scott that his response to Sparrow had been the right one.

Next Paul Chandler-Wells approached with a pregnant woman on his arm. He introduced himself and his wife Peggy. They exchanged a few pleasantries and Scott learned that Peggy was due around the beginning of March.

Karen drew Scott over to a very pretty black woman that was seated in an overstuffed chair holding a six month old medium brown skinned baby girl. She was attended by one of Emily Hanson's leonine sons and a two year old leonine boy with jet black fur. The boy's mane had been trimmed unusually short so that it was almost non-existant. The boy looked up at him and Scott was reminded of a sleek black panther that he had once seen at the zoo. Karen introduced them. "Scott, this is Thomas Chandler-Wells, his wife Sara, their new daughter Cindy, and their youngest son Adam." They exchanged greetings as Karen glanced around. Then she asked. "Where's your other boy?"

Thomas replied. "Last I saw, he was headed for the kitchen saying something about a fresh batch of cookies."

Scott smiled in response. "Cookies always take precedence." Thomas, Karen and Sara all laughed.

At this point Emily's third son approached and introduced himself. "Hi, name's Daniel Chandler-Wells. I believe we met in passing at Alex and Alex's wedding just before the big crisis." He stuck out his hand."

Scott accepted his hand. "Yea, things got a little crazy after that, but everything turned out OK in the end. Name's Scott Myers. Glad to meet you." He grinned.

"Same here. We're all just glad that Karen and you found each other." He grinned back exposing his sharp fangs. He started to say something else when they were distracted by another young leonine, about five years old and dark brown in coloring, that had just entered the group carrying a half dozen cookies.

Scott couldn't help thinking that there was something downright adorable about all the younger leonine children.

The young male looked up and held out a hand offering one of his cookies as he spoke. "Uncle Daniel, want a cookie?" They were all such polite and well behaved children.

Daniel smiled down at the youngster. "No thank-you Sammy, not right now, but maybe later."

Thomas spoke. "This is my oldest son, Samuel."

The young boy looked up at Scott, seeming to study him for about two seconds then smiled and offered him the same cookie. Scott accepted it and thanked him. While he munched on the cookie he was introduced to the Sheriff's wife and two children. The sheriff's son was fascinated by Scott and wanted to know what it was like being a Secret Service agent.

~ o ~

About two hours later a new group arrived at the bed and breakfast. It was Katy's sister Sally and brother-in-law Tom Carrington. They were followed by their two preteen children. The two children were followed by a much older couple that was introduced as Sally and Katy's parents, Raymond and Daisy Hobson.

Both of the newly arrived children were awe struck by the presence of all the Wells-Chandlers in the room. Their excitement was doubled when they realized that one of the Wells-Chandlers present was their favorite author Peter Chandler-Wells. Raymond and Daisy were also very impressed by the type of individuals that their two daughters had as friends.

Shortly after the arrival of Katy's sister and parents they all went over to the attached restaurant for dinner. There were a few additional customers from the nearby small farming town of Oaksburg where Matt was the sheriff, including his deputy, Chastity Fredricks. When he was introduced to her, Scott had to suppress a chuckle at the idea of Chastity and Fredricks put together in the same name. He remembered when he and was a teenager his sister had worked one summer at 'Fredrick's of Hollywood' and the place had left quite an impression on his young mind.

After dinner Peter entertained the youngsters back in the small library with a couple of stories while most of the adults gathered back in the common room. Soon the young children were herded off to bed and it was just the adults left talking in the common room. As the socializing continued to the continued strains of Christmas music, Scott got the distinct impression that, ever since he and Karen had arrived, he was being judged by the rest of those present.

Scott became aware of the old grandfather clock striking midnight when he felt Karen's hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and she pointed upward with a grin. He looked up to see that they were directly under a sprig of mistletoe then he looked back down to be met with a kiss. There was real heat in that kiss and the background noise was drowned out by the roaring in his ears. When they broke there was a moment of silence then they were greeted by cheers all around.

Scott glanced stunned and blushing at all those around them, then with a sheepish grin remarked. "I guess this means I'm accepted?"

_**Continued in Part 11**_

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><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	11. Vacation

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: Vacation<strong>

The rather spectacular midnight kiss under the mistletoe between Scott and Karen seemed to have been a signal and soon people began breaking up and heading off to bed. Many paused offering their congratulations or simply their good wished to Scott and Karen before heading off for the night.

Several minutes later Katy approached Scott and Karen. "I forgot to ask earlier. Do you two want separate rooms or would you prefer to share a room?"

Unsure how he should respond, Scott looked at Karen as she blushed and giggled. He was also blushing over the obvious implication of the question. Then Karen spoke. "Although we have spent a few weekends together, we, aaahhh, we've never actually slept together . . . yet" Scotts jaw dropped and he felt himself blushing even more deeply as she looked almost shyly at him then continued. "So to speak." She looked back at Katy with a shrug. "I guess it should be separate rooms." She nodded her head toward Scott with a grin. "Wouldn't want to damage his reputation."

Scotts opened his mouth to speak but he could think of no reply so he closed it. Katy grinned and led them upstairs to the second floor. She indicated the third door from the stairs. "This will be your room, Karen." Then she pointed to the room right next door. "And this will be your room, Scott." She glanced at the two of them then her eyebrows made a single trip up and down her brow. "Goodnight, you two." Then she turned and walked away.

Scott and Karen looked at each other for a moment then Scott leaned in they kissed. Though not as spectacular as the one beneath the mistletoe, it still left both of their bodied tingling. The both said "Goodnight" almost simultaneously then with a grin and a shrug they each entered their respective rooms.

~ x x x x x ~

Scott woke up to the light of the morning sun streaming through the window of his little room. They had stayed up very late last night. He lay there thinking of yesterday and all the fascinating new people he had met. Then he thought about Karen in the room next door. This was not the first time he had slept in the same house as her but it still felt almost intimate to be sleeping in the room next to hers. Just knowing that she was so near gave him a warm feeling.

Finally Scott got out of bed, driven by the usual morning needs and began getting ready for a new day. He noticed that the door to Karen's room was still closed. She must still be asleep. Once he was dressed he retrieved a small gaily wrapped package from his suitcase and went downstairs. As he reached the common room his gaze was drawn to the large bay window that looked out to the front of the house. He stopped for a while to gaze out at the view. There had been a light snowfall overnight and everything was covered in a sparkling blanket of white. He glanced over at the merry blaze that was already going in the large see through fireplace. He already knew that the other side opened into the formal dining room. He turned and approached the large Christmas tree that dominated the opposite corner of the room and stooped to place the package under the tree. As he was about to stand up he noticed another package with his name prominently written on the card attached to it. Curious, he picked it up to look a little closer. It was from Karen. He tilted it feeling its weight then gently shook it, listening to the sounds made by the package's contents. He was interrupted from his endeavor by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. He looked up into Katy Dillon's amused eyes.

Katy inclined her head. "So you're one of those are you?" She took a step toward him grinning. "Matt's the same way. He just can't resist snooping." She gave a quick laugh. "I'm afraid you'll just have to wait 'til after lunch like the rest of us to find out what's in there." She then inclined her head toward the dining room. "There's breakfast in the dining room if you want something."

With a bit of an embarrassed chuckle he put the package back under the tree and followed Katy into the dining room. Scott noticed that Peter, Cherry, David and Sparrow were already seated at the large dining room table working on their half finished breakfast of pancakes and bacon. He was acutely aware that Sparrow's hairstyle was the same but her hair color had changed to a medium brown.

Katy continued on through the door into the kitchen as Scott approached the table. He commented as he sat at the table. "I like that hair color on you. I thought you looked great as a blond last night but I think that color brown looks much better and more natural on you."

"Thank-you." Sparrow smiled at him. "It is my natural color but it is still only a wig." She shrugged. "The fire left me without enough of my own hair left to do much of anything so I just cut it short and wear wigs."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Scott responded quietly, mortified that he had brought up what must be a very painful subject.

Sparrow looked back at him, her eyes showing gentle sympathy for his embarrassment. "It's no big deal. I don't remember it at all." She cocked her head. "In fact, I remember almost nothing at all before the day David found me."

Trying to change the subject Scott asked another question. "Sparrow is such an unusual name. Where did it come from?"

Sparrow chuckled, realizing that in trying to change the topic Scott had inadvertently brought it back to the subject of her memory. "With my memory gone, I had no idea what my name was. So I picked Sparrow for my name, partially because I just liked it and it felt right . . ." She reached out to him with her left hand palm up so that he could see a bird shaped tattoo on the only unscarred area of her forearm. ". . . and because of this tattoo that I don't remember getting." She shrugged. "David's mother and sister eventually were able to find out my original name for me but I liked sparrow better so I had it legally changed. A new name for a new life."

David and Sparrow were soon telling Scott a quick abridged version the fascinating tale of how they first met, fell in love, and how they found out what little about her past that she knew. She added that David's mother and sister both knew a lot more than the little she had told him but she didn't really want to know the details of her very tragic past so they had kept it to themselves at her request. She knew that the information was there if she ever decided that she wanted to know but so far she had no interest in it.

Their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of a still sleepy looking Karen, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Mornin' everyone. What's for breakfast?"

Scott looked at her thinking that she looked so adorably cute and so devastatingly sexy at the same time. He heard a chuckle and looked over to see all four of them looking back at him and grinning. Scott felt the warmth rise in his cheeks as he remembered that Peter and David were both empaths. This was one aspect of Karen's family that he might have a little difficulty getting used to.

Katy's voice came from the doorway to the kitchen. "Grab a seat and breakfast will be right out."

Karen settled into the seat next to Scott and planted a quick peck on his cheek. "Mornin' Scott."

Katy returned bringing out another load of pancakes and bacon. A few minutes later the relative morning quiet of the house was broken by the thunder of multiple young feet barreling down the stairs. It seemed that the first youngsters to wake up had immediately awoken the rest and now they all stampeded into the dining room, excited by Christmas morning and ravenous for breakfast. Peter, Cherry and David were already finished and got up from the table to make room for the approaching herd. Sparrow remained at the table, still working on her breakfast and talking with Scott and Karen.

Apparently all of the youngsters were already aware of the fact that the presents would not be opened until lunch time because they all went right past the Christmas tree and straight to the dining room. They quickly found seats and moments later Katy reappeared with armloads of food for the children.

Soon the children were consuming massive amounts of food and chattering amiably among themselves. A major topic of discussion was the differences between the lion-persons and the normals (their own terminology), and what it was like to be a lion-person. Scott was amazed and amused at how quickly the children had become completely comfortable with their more unique new friends. The other main topic was the fresh layer of snow and plans for playing in it after breakfast.

As soon as Scott, Karen and Sparrow were finished they left the table, taking their dishes with them and making more room for the other adults that were beginning to filter down from upstairs. They entered the common room to indulge the companionship of the others that had finished breakfast and enjoy the Christmas music that was softly filling the room.

About a half hour later the herd of children went thundering back upstairs to get dressed for the cold snowy weather. Ten minutes after that the same herd thundered back down the stairs and out the front door. As the adults continued to collect in the common room, the view through the large bay window of the children at play in the area around the giant snowman became a major attraction. When the great snowball war broke out, the two warring faction each had their supporters and cheerleaders among the adult observers.

Karen noticed Scott at one point studying the snowman and informed him that it had become a tradition With Peter's family. Every year for the last eight years, since Sparrow and David first found their way here, they had secretly come to this place for the Christmas holiday at Matt and Katy's invitation and, if there was enough snow, they would build the same ten foot tall snowman. This was the first year that they had been able to come here openly and eat in the main restaurant with the rest of the public.

Occasionally some of the children would come in to warm up by the fireplace or to grab a cup of hot chocolate, of which there seemed to be an endless supply. A few times some of the adults would go out and join the children for a short while but mostly the winter morning belonged to the children.

Around noon Katy called the children in for lunch and presents. After a lot of milling around and organizing everyone was seated in the common room (the majority on the floor) with sandwiches and hot chocolate beside or in front of them. Several small trash cans were placed around the room, apparently to collect the wrappings and keep the mess to a minimum. As soon as everyone was settled Matt and Katy began to pass out the presents from under the tree. Scott was touched to be handed four packages with his name on them. There was the one he had already seen from Karen, A package from William and family, one from Alexander, and one that claimed on the card to be from Santa Claus.

As Scott was opening the package from Karen she suddenly grabbed him in a big hug followed by a warm kiss and the words "Oh, Scott, I love it." Karen was held up the pendant that he had given her showing it off to the rest of the room. She received several comments of appreciation from others around her. Though the magnetic catch on the chain made assistance unnecessary, she asked his help putting it on.

From behind her, Scott placed it around her neck, snapping the catch together in the back. He then laid his hands gently on her shoulders and kissed the side of her neck. Next he whispered, "Merry Christmas, my love," into her ear followed by a light kiss on that ear. Then they both noticed that the rest of the room was grinning at them.

Karen turned bright red and giggled then commented quietly to Scott. "Gotta remember that we're in a room full of empaths with very good hearing."

Scott also developed a bit of a blush and replied. "I don't care. I want everyone to know that I love you."

After a few moments Scott returned to his own present. As he opened each of them Scott was particularly touched by the apparent thoughtfulness that must have gone into each of the gifts that he had received. They were all obviously from people that cared about him and had picked them with care.

~ o ~

As the last of the presents were opened several of the adults began cleaning up as the children headed for the small media room at the back of the house where some favorite Christmas movies were about to begin showing.

A little while later some of the adults along with the thirteen year old Gail pulled out the snowmobiles and headed off into the nearby state park for their own adventure. Scott had always been very adept at handling a snowmobile and got just a bit daring on it. He was surprised to discover that Karen was just about as good on them as he was they continued to challenge each other. Fortunately they were both skilled enough that there were no mishaps.

The snowmobilers finally returned to the inn at around dinner time. They all headed over to the attached restaurant and pub for dinner. As Scott and Karen entered the restaurant he noticed that the place was packed but an area had been reserved for all the guests that were staying in the bed and breakfast. The Chandler-Wells families entered the large room and the loud din that had filled the place quickly dropped to a muted murmur of whispers and lowered voices as all heads turned their way.

Katy greeted them. "Word seems to have gotten around that you guys are here over the holiday and half of Oaksburg has shown up to see for themselves." She shrugged and giggled then indicated for them to follow her. "This way please." She led them to the reserved area and got them all seated. Then she began passing out the menus. "Julia will be out shortly to take your orders." She glanced over at the kitchen area with a grin. "That is if she can conquer her sudden case of terminal shyness." She leaned in between Peter and Cherry. "Julia is a hard core fan of all the Peter Chandler-Wells teenage stories as well as having grown up on you children's tales." She straightened up and headed toward the kitchen.

The noise level in the room slowly crept up to a medium roar but still much lower than it had been when they first entered. About fifteen minutes later a young blond girl that appeared to be about seventeen was ejected out of the kitchen area as though she had been pushed. She stood there for several seconds gazing in their section with a deer in the headlights look on her face. Then she turned bright red looking down at the floor as she started over toward them. She was obviously star struck and it took a little bit of wheedling but Peter got her to emerge from her shell. By the time she had finished taking their orders she was smiling and laughing with them.

About ten minutes later Scott heard a woman's voice speaking low but urgently from behind him. "Robby, no! Get back here." Then a young boy that looked about six sidled past him clutching a book tightly to his chest. The boy nervously approached David and frowned as he looked at the occupants of that table. After a second he shifted over next to Peter and looked up at him expectantly.

Peter looked down at the young boy. "Is there something I can do for you young man?"

After a moment's hesitation the bow held out the tightly clutched book. "Are . . . um . . . are you him?"

Peter glanced down at the book and nodded with a half smile. "Yes, I'm Peter Chandler-Wells." As the young boy beamed up at him Peter held out his hand. "May I see your book, please?" The young boy handed the book to him. Peter opened the book and flipped through it. "This was my second book to be published. It appears to have been read many times."

The boy bobbed his head. "Uh huh, my mommy reads it to me all the time and mommy says her grandmamma used to read it to her. It's my favorite."

Peter glanced around his table chuckling. "Talk about making someone feel old." As the rest of the table laughed Peter again returned his attention to the boy. "Would you like me to sign this for you?" At the wide-eyed look of surprised delight on the boy's face Peter nodded. After getting a pen from Cherry's purse he inquired of the boy. "And what is your name young man?"

The boy blushed and replied. "Robby." Peter nodded and wrote on the title page of the book.

**_To my friend Robby. _**

**_May all of your life's tales  
>have a happy ending.<em>**

**_~ ~ Peter Chandler-Wells_**

He closed the book and handed it back to the boy while remarking. "Here you go Robby. Now you'd better hurry back over to your mother. She looks just a bit worried over there."

Clutching the book the boy rushed back over to his parents table. Both parents looked at what Peter had written then glanced back at Peter's table smiling in appreciation. Katy came by a few minutes later as they were passing out the food and talked with them for a few minutes. Peter asked her to spread the word that if anyone had a book that they would like signed, they could bring it to the pub with their name on a piece of paper and he would try to sign it before he headed back to New York.

~ o ~

After diner several of the adults including Scott and Karen headed over to the pub side of the restaurant while the rest went back to the mansion with the children. The socializing in the pub went late into the night. The locals that stayed around found themselves included into the family group as though they were already friends and soon were quite at home with the leonine males. The group finally began breaking up around eleven.

Around midnight Scott and Karen found themselves alone in the inn's common room sitting by the fire and making out to the soft Christmas music that was still playing through the audio system. The heat between them at times rivaled the heat from the fireplace but they still just barely managed to keep themselves from going too far. Eventually they settled down to a companionable silence as they sat there wrapped in each other's arms gazing into the fire.

After a while Scott felt himself beginning to drift toward sleep and realized that Karen had already drifted off. He gazed into her beautiful sleeping face for a while just enjoying the view. He finally smiled as he shifted his arms to new positions. As he stood up with her in his arms he thought with amusement that he was no Wells-Chandler but the rigorous requirements of his job did leave him strong enough to carry a sleeping Karen up the stairs to her room.

He gently laid her sleeping form on her bed. When he went to remove her shoes he realized that they weren't there. Where had she kicked them off? He shrugged and pulled the covers over her then kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight my Christmas angel." He remarked softly. Then he quietly went to his own room thinking how nice it would be if they were truly joined and he just slip into bed beside her. He had just experienced nearly falling asleep with her in his arms and he wanted to be able to do that all the time.

~ x x x x x ~

It was after ten when Scott slowly swam up from the depths of deep peaceful sleep. He lay there for a while thinking about the previous night and how good it had felt. Finally he roused himself out of bed dressed for a new day. As he left his room he noticed that Karen's door was open and she was not in her room. He headed downstairs hoping to find both Karen and some breakfast. He found both in the dining room.

There were a dozen members of their group at the table. He saw Karen and an unfamiliar redhead sitting at the far end of the table laughing as they ate. On the table between then was platters containing toast, eggs, bacon, sausage and white gravy. Karen looked over at him and then the red-haired girl looked over at him. After a couple moments he recognized the girl. The hair was much shorter and red but it still was still styled to cover the left side of Sparrow's face. Karen waved him over and he was soon enjoying breakfast.

"Interesting hair color. Where's David this morning?" Scott asked Sparrow.

She smiled at him amusement showing in her face. "He and some of the boys are out back chopping up wood for the fireplaces. I suspect by now they are trying to see who can chop the most firewood."

Both girls giggled at the concept then several of the leonine males came tromping into the building carrying armloads of firewood.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the companionship of the family and friends that were staying at the Bed and Breakfast. Most of them spent some time out in the snow with the children during the day but the majority of the time was spent in front of the large fireplace that opened into both the common room and the dining room. Over all it was just a quiet comfortable day spent with friends and family.

~ x x x x x ~

The next morning Scott headed down stairs for breakfast a bit earlier than the day before. Uppermost in his mind, beside thoughts of Karen, was curiosity about what the color and style of Sparrow's hair would be today. Sparrow had not put in an appearance yet and he knew that Karen was still in her room. About fifteen minutes later David and Sparrow came down together. Today her hair was jet black and the longest he had seen it yet. As before, it was styled to cover the left side of her face.

As with every Chandler-Wells couple he had met so far it was plainly obvious that they cared very deeply for each other. He wondered briefly if he and Karen would ever be able to achieve that kind of relationship without the aid of that special empathic bond that they all had. Sometimes as he watched them together with their mates he felt like a child staring through the window into a magical place that he would never be able to enter.

Then the object of his thoughts appeared in the doorway and he saw Karen's eyes light up as she spotted him and started over. He may never have what they had but being with Karen couldn't be too far behind.

Later that afternoon he asked Karen about Sparrow and the things that he had noticed about her. Karen told him that, as a very young teenager, Sparrow had been burned over nearly sixty percent of her body. The severe scaring included the left side of her face and nearly three quarters of her scalp. Every one of her wigs was specifically styled to hide the fire scared side of her face. David had found her, helped her, and fell in love with her. Karen sighed as she commented that it was really all very romantic.

~ x x x x x ~

It was midnight New Years eve. Scott and Karen along with most of the adults were sitting out back in chairs borrowed from the restaurant. At the stroke of twelve the fireworks display began to light up the sky over the nearby town of Oaksburg. It was not the most spectacular fireworks Scott had seen but there was something about the way the fiery colors lit up the crisp clear sky and reflected off the moonlit snow covered landscape that gave the whole thing a truly magical aura.

Five minutes later the display was over and, with a sigh of appreciation, everyone headed back into the restaurant taking their chairs with them. Katy told them to just stack the chairs by the kitchen door and the staff would put them back where they belonged in the morning. They moved to the pub side where they finished off their celebrated with a last round of drinks before heading off to bed

With the exception of Peter, Karen and Scott were the last to leave. They had both been celebrating just a little bit more than they should and were just a little unstable. They helped each other up the stairs and made their unsteady way down the hall and into Karen's room. As Scott assisted Karen into her bed he lost his balance and they tumbled into the bed together landing in a tangled heap. They looked at each other for a surprised moment then they both broke into giggles. As the giggles wore down they found themselves staring into each other's eyes. Their lips came together in a soft kiss then she pressed her head into his shoulder and sighed contentedly.

Ten minutes later Peter came up the hall. He had noticed their unsteady state when they had left the pub and had decided to make sure they had made it back to their rooms alright. Through the door to her room he saw them both in her bed, their limbs entangled and both sound asleep. He left a few additional items in the room then quietly closed the door and, smiling, made his way to the room he shared with Cherry. He was feeling just a bit frisky and he found her waiting for him having picked up on his emotional state.

~ x x x x x ~

Scott slowly drew himself out of the fuzzy cocoon of sleep. His eyes seem to be glued shut, his mouth felt like cotton, and he had a mild but throbbing headache. And there was a warm body entangle in his arms and legs. He pried his eyes open to the darkness that meant it was still night. The only light in the room was the small nightlight that every room in the place seemed to have. He looked into the sleeping face of his beloved Karen thinking that this was where she belonged, sleeping safely wrapped in his arms. He continued to lay there ignoring the minor discomfort of a mild hangover and just enjoyed the sleeping face before him.

After a short time he finally allowed his gaze to wander and it drifted to the nightstand where he noticed some objects that he knew had not been there last night. There were two tall glasses of orange juice and a bottle of generic pain relievers. Scott had never been subject to hangovers. The relatively mild symptoms he had now was the worst it ever got but he still recognized the best known treatment for such ailments on the nightstand. He wondered what kind soul had left that gift for them. Then he noticed that the bedroom door was closed. He was pretty sure that he would not have closed it while he was in the same bedroom with her.

He knew that he should get out of Karen's bed, make use of the hangover cure left for them, and get back to his own room. But his current position felt so good that he just couldn't bring himself to move and possibly break the wonderful dream that he seemed to be having. He felt her shift in her sleep, seemingly, trying to burrow even deeper into his embrace. He gave up his resistance and simply relaxed to the magic of the dream. There would be time for proprieties later. Besides, it was New Years Day and everyone would probably be sleeping-in pretty late this morning. Soon he drifted back to sleep a contented smile on his face that perfectly matched the smile on her face.

_**Continued in Part 12**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	12. A New Agent

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: A New Agent<strong>

**January 2068**

The next time Scott awoke it was to the shifting of Karen's body accompanied by her uncomfortable groan. He opened his eyes to find her bleary eyes looking back at him.

She groaned again. "I think I may have drunk too much last night."

Scott nodded. He still was feeling the effects as well. "We have just the thing for that." He gently disengaged from her and retrieved the glasses of orange juice and pills. He handed two pills and one of the glasses of orange juice to her. "Take these and drink up." She did as he suggested while he followed his own advice. Afterward they re-entered each other's embrace and relaxed.

After a short time she spoke. "Thank-you, I'm beginning to feel better."

They finally got out of the bed and he headed to his own room so they could both get ready for the new day. The rest of the day was an easy going day full of covert looks, half suppressed grins and unexpected fits of giggles and blushes. None of the attempts at suppressing their reactions seemed to fool anyone.

That night shortly after he went to bed Karen quietly came into his room and without saying a word smiled at him and climbed into his bed. He smiled back and wrapped his arms around her. There was no sex involved though the attraction was definitely there; this was simply loving companionship and being where they both felt they belonged.

~ x x x x x ~

It was just before lunch on the morning after New Year's Day and Sheriff Matt dropped Scott off at the airport on his way into Hagerstown. Karen had rode in with him and sent Scott off with a kiss and a hug. A short time later Scott arrived Back in Washington.

Three hours later Alexander and Alexandra arrived from New York. They met with Scott for early dinner and talked for a couple of hours about their Christmas vacations. Finally they broke up and headed to their homes. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for all three of them.

~ x x x x x ~

Scott rolled out of bed and went into his normal morning routine. As he looked at his handful of standard dark suits he mused on how this would be the first time he had worn one in over two months. Today was a very big day. Today a very special new agent would be added to his team. A short time later he looked at himself in the mirror and grinned. He had never been a particularly vain person but he really thought he looked good in his dark suits. Karen had once told him that she thought he looked hot in dark suits. He donned his standard dark glasses, grinned at his reflection and headed out the door.

~ o ~

Alexander looked at himself in the mirror and shrugged. "I don't know. It just doesn't look like me." He glanced at the reflection of Alexandra standing behind him and caught the glint of amusement on her face. She brought her hand up to her mouth and he could see the twitching of a barely suppressed laugh lurking there. However her _amusement_ was coming in clear as a bell over their bond.

She shook her head. "No, it's definitely not your usual look." She tilted her head, her eyes still dancing, and then nodded. "But you do look surprisingly handsome in that suit." She turned him around and adjusted his tie. "You know, I think I like it." She tilted her head the other way and ran her fingers through his thick mane. "I'm glad that they didn't make you cut off your hair."

Alexander had been relieved that they had let him keep his hair long as well. He was totally unaware that his mane had actually been the subject of a fairly high level discussion a few months ago. It had finally been decided that his thick mane gave him a much more impressive and daunting appearance and would therefore be an asset to his effectiveness. So it was officially decided that any Wells-Chandlers that served in the Secret Service would be granted the same exemptions on hair length as agents that worked undercover.

~ o ~

Scott had been thinking about how amused he had been when he first heard about the newest modification of the hair length rules when he arrived at Alexander's place. He walked up to the door and rang the bell. Alexander opened the door and Scott barely suppressed a snort of a laugh at how different he looked in the dark suit.

Alexander shook his head. "Yea, I know. It's not me." He donned his dark glasses grinning, his fangs fully displayed.

With another laugh Scott nodded and grinned back. "No it's not. But you do make that suit look good and I guarantee, nobody's going to want to mess with you. Come on buddy, we've got to get going. We have a President to protect."

They nodded, still grinning at each other, then Alexander took leave of his wife and they headed out to Scott's car. A short time later they arrived at headquarters. Alexander headed for the HR department and Scott headed for his office.

Scott spent the next hour and a half reading reports and catching up on a small bit of paperwork. Then, as expected, he was summoned to his supervisor's office. When he arrived Alexander was there waiting for him and a minute later they were heading for the conference room where the rest of Scott's team was supposed to assemble.

Scott spoke as they walked down the hallway. "After I introduce you to the rest of the team we will be heading over to the Whitehouse. Today's assignment is straightforward and relatively easy." He glanced over at the door they were approaching. "Here we are." They passed through the door into the room to be faced with several other people in similar dark suites.

The first thing Scott was aware of was the looks of surprise on the faces of the other's in the room. The first thing that Alexander was aware of was the radical shift in the emotional atmosphere from _uncertainty_ and _mild curiosity_ to _surprise_ then _recognition_ and _speculation_. Scott addressed the group as soon as he closed the door. "I would like you all to meet the newest member of our team, Alexander Chandler-Wells." He paused scanning the faces of his team. "I'm sure you have all heard stories of his exploits over the last year as well as having met him personally. And I'm sure there have been a few rumors flying around since he arrived at the training facility."

Alexander spoke next. "I am happy to be here and very pleased to meet all of you." He felt an increase in the _speculation_ and _curiosity_. As he felt the emotions of the team wash over him, he was pleased that he had detected no signs of distrust or fear from anyone in the group

Everyone knew of the well documented heroic exploits of Alexander and, being members of Scott's team, many of them had witnessed many of those exploits personally. Their initial surprise had quickly turned to understanding of the sense of it. Beth and Irene had heard the rumors of the effect of the Wells-Chandler voice but had not had the chance to hear it in person until today. They were both surprised at how unexpectedly strong that effect was in person. Beth's mind then turned to thoughts of her husband. Irene, being single, was thinking what a shame it was that Alexander was not single. The next feelings that swept the group was the realization of how important Alexander must be to the higher ups and they were all filled with pride that he had been assigned to their team.

Scott scanned the faces of his team studying their reactions. He was amused by the reactions on the faces of Beth and Irene when Alexander had spoken. As he began to introduce each of his agents to Alexander, he was proud of the way his team handled the situation. After all the introductions were completed Scott let them talk to Alexander for about a half hour then called them all to order. "OK everyone, settle down. As you know today we were supposed to be the reserve on-call team. That has been changed. Today's assignment has been switched with team Alpha. They will be the on-call team today and we will be taking the Whitehouse duty." He noticed the looks of surprise as he continued. "There has also been a shift in our status from 'first team' to 'prime team'."

The surprise and pride of the agents at this announcement was so palpable that even Scott thought he could feel it. He went over to the front wall of the room and pulled down a chart showing the layout of the Whitehouse and its grounds. "OK People Let's get our assignments so we can get to work." He assigned guard locations and call signs to each of his team.

~ o ~

Scott observed Alexander as he glanced at his surroundings. They were standing inside the Whitehouse in front of the doorway that divided the public part of the place from the private residence. The latest group of tourists was passing through this part of the building and they were all fascinated to see Alexander there. Scott again glanced at Alexander and noticed a flash of what he thought was reasonably concealed surprise on Alexander's face then a second later he got word that the President was coming out to the public area. Three seconds later Alexander reached over and opened the door. Scott realized immediately that with his unique senses he would naturally know exactly when someone was approaching the other side of the door.

Normally when the President entered the public section there would be three agents waiting for him plus the two guarding the door. Scott made his decision in less than a moment. With Alexander attending the President in this setting, any additional agents would be superfluous. Scott spoke to his hand. "Top Dog here. Eagle has entered Sector Paul One and Lion has him. Bell, report to sector Paul one for entry backup."

Alexander took up his implied assignment beside President Carlton as the tour groups attention shifted to the President. Half a minute later Beth showed up to take over Alexander's position at the door. For the next half hour President Carlton mingled with the thrilled tour group while Alexander watched over him. Finally the President returned to the private apartments, Alexander resumed his place at the door and Beth returned to standby status.

~ x x x x x ~

It was the middle of January and the first Presidential news conference of the year was about to begin. Scott's team was on duty that day. He suspected that the timing was intentional and he had been told that the President wanted Alexander to be clearly visible when he was on duty. Scott had placed Alexander in one of the two primary stations, positioning him behind and to the right of the President, which would result in him being visible on camera. Scott took the other primary station. President Carlton had noticed the arrangement as he had entered the room and nodded his approval at Scott.

President Carlton spoke about the state of the War on Terror and on the state of the country's economy. He also touched on the addition of Alexander to the Secret Service. At a question from one of the reporters, President Carlton remarked that because Alexander already had so much experience protecting the President and his family it seemed only natural to place him in the Presidential Security team.

~ x x x x x ~

In February Karen accepted a job offer in Washington and flew down to begin a new stage of her life. She stayed a week with Alexander and Alexandra first while they all helped her find an apartment. She quickly developed a much closer friendship with the families of Alexander's fellow agents. Meanwhile the romance between Karen and Scott continued to heat up.

The day after Karen moved into her new apartment Scott's team was assigned to go with the President to France for a meeting with several European leaders. They would be discussing the progress on the Global War on Terror and reaffirming their dedication to the cause.

Scott's team escorted the President's family aboard Air Force One and began settling in when Alexander stopped them, a worried frown on his face as he turned to Scott. "Something's wrong, we have to get everyone off the plane, now."

Scott didn't think twice. He immediately ordered everyone off the plane and into the shelter of the hanger. After the First Family was off the plane he turned to Alexander. "What's wrong, what happened?"

Alexander glanced at the front of the plane. "Almost as soon as we boarded I got a very strong feeling of worry, fear and determination coming from the pilot. The fear and determination were particularly strong."

Two minutes later everyone else was off the plane except Scott, Alexander and a very upset pilot. Scott had already gotten a quick rundown on the pilot. His name was John Kasim al-Rashid (most of his friends called him Kasim but at work he went by John). His parents came from a Middle Eastern background. The pilot quickly admitted that a group of terrorists had taken his family hostage. He was told by the terrorists that he was supposed to crash the plane into the Statue of Liberty. He had been unable to get out a warning because from the moment his family was taken hostage until he had arrived at the hanger they had never let him out of their sight. They had also told him that they had someone in the control tower as well so they would know the instant he tried to betray them. He knew that they would probably kill his family anyway and he didn't know what to do. He had left a hastily written note on the door to the locker room hoping that someone would find it and report to the authorities before the plane reached New York and the terrorists found out that he had not done as they had ordered.

After a quick discussion Scott and Alexander made some quick calls then Air Force One took off on schedule except the only people on board were John Kasim as the pilot and Irene Yeltson, one of Scott's team, who happened to have pilot training on large multi-engine aircraft.

As Air Force One was lifting off, the First Family was being secretly escorted to a safe location by the rest of Scott's team while he and Alexander were tearing through the streets of Washington DC at breakneck speeds. They were in the brand new high powered sports car that Alexander had bought for himself just a week ago. Several times Scott was sure they were taking corners on two wheels and he had no idea how they avoided hitting the other cars they cut past while they were weaving in and out among them. Scott was holding on to the handle above the door with a death grip while Alexander was at the wheel, a look of fierce concentration on his face. Despite the harrowing nature of Alexander's driving, Scott suspected that he was probably safer right now than when he was driving in his own large SUV.

They came to a sudden but well controlled stop one street over from where John Kasim lived. They quickly made their way through two back yards to the thick bushes behind his house. Alexander sensed two individuals in the house and neither of them were friendlys. After a quick few words Alexander crashed, roaring, through the rear plate glass door with Scott trying his best to keep up. Alexander swung at one of the terrorists sending him flying across the living room to hit the far wall with a thud. Without any apparent pause Alexander continued moving and landed squarely on top of the second terrorist, knocking the man's cell phone out of his hands. Less than a half second later the terrorist that Alexander had knocked aside found himself staring blurrily up into the muzzle of Scott's gun. At the same time the second terrorist was staring up at Alexander's fierce face.

"Where have you taken the family?" Alexander growled out.

Scott glanced over at Alexander. The amount of pure menace that his voice projected surprised and amazed him.

The Terrorist babbled some nonsense about jihad. Alexander roared as he raised his claws to strike and the terrorist broke down completely babbling everything he knew. The family was being held in a vacant house about three blocks away. They were being guarded by three other terrorists. The two men left behind in the pilot's house were supposed to call if anything suspicious happened at this house. They were also supposed to call every quarter hour to verify that everything was alright.

Scott looked at Alexander. "Go, now! Do whatever you have to. I'll take care of these two and call the police." Then he turned his attention to the two terrorists. All of the fight had completely gone out of them in the face of Alexander's rage and Scott had no trouble tying them up.

Then he made the call to 911. "This is Secret Service Agent Scott Myers, federal ID one zero nine six seven nine, I need to speak to your supervisor immediately." Two seconds later the 911 supervisor was on the line and Scott gave him a quick description of the two house addresses and the situation. He told the supervisor that he was leaving the two terrorists in the pilot's house tied up and would be at the second address. After he hung up, he raced out the front door headed to the other address.

As Scott entered the supposedly vacant house he saw a shattered back glass door, two terrorists dead on the floor and the third terrorist huddled bleeding and babbling in the corner with Alexander standing over him. Two women and five children were gathered in the opposite corner. The older of the two women was talking on Alexander's cell phone. She smiled happily and hugged the other woman. Then the five children cheered and joined in the group hug.

They began passing the cell phone around as Scott approached Alexander. "I just talked to the police. They were already on their way when I called. Someone had apparently found John Kasim's note and called it in just seconds before I called. They should be here very shortly."

The older woman came over to Alexander, stepping disdainfully past the two dead terrorists while the younger woman herded the children out of the room. She shyly looked up at Alexander's face as she handed his phone back to him. Then she suddenly threw her arms around him in a tearful hug. Two seconds later Scott was surprised to receive an equally enthusiastic hug from her. Then she was talking a mile a minute thanking them both profusely for their help.

Scott's phone rang and after a short conversation he hung up. "The plane is on its way back. The President's family is also on their way back to the airfield." Scott turned to the woman. "Your husband will be home in about two hours. As soon as he lands he will go through a quick debriefing then he will be given two weeks paid R & R. He will probably also get hazardous duty pay for the last twelve hours." Scott turned back to Alexander. "The backup flight team will be flying us to France as soon as everyone is back aboard Air Force One. My supervisor has already contacted the DC police and we should be free to go as soon as we have given our statements to the officers on the scene."

At that moment the recently mentioned officers burst into the vacant house. Scott and Alexander both held up their Secret Service credentials and gave the lead officer their statements. After a few minutes and a call to the officer's home station, Alexander and Scott were allowed to leave.

An hour and a half later they were in the air aboard Air Force One and heading for France. Scott and Alexander were sitting with the President's family regaling them with descriptions of their recent adventure. Scott's colorful description of the harrowing ride to the pilot's home in Alexander's sports car had them all in stitches. Scott and Alexander glossed over the two dead terrorist while telling their story but Jerry and his wife both understood what was implied. Meanwhile Scott noticed with a hint of amusement that their young daughter Sandra was gazing at Alexander with a look of pure enthralled hero worship.

~ x x x x x ~

**March**

Scott entered his supervisor's office, curios about why he had been called in by such a cryptic message on his day off. Stephen, his supervisor, looked up at him with a very serious look on his face. "Sit down Scott." Scott sat down puzzled and worried. This must be something very serious based on his boss's peculiar attitude. "Have you heard from Alexander today?"

Caught off guard and puzzled by the question he had to think a moment before he could answer. "No, Sir. The last I heard they were planning to spend the day at the beach. Alexander said he wanted to try his hand at surfing." He sat up straighter. "What is this about? Is Alexander in some sort of trouble?"

His supervisor furrowed his brow a moment before responding. "No . . . not directly at least." He shook his head and looked directly at Scott. "Last night a group of terrorists snatched Danielle right off the college campus."

Scott jerked upright. "Is she OK? Do they know where she is?"

Stephen shook his head. "No need to worry; she's just fine." He cocked his head with just a hint of a smirk. "Fortunately the bad guys haven't figured out yet that grabbing the mate of a Wells-Chandler is tantamount to hollering 'Here I am, come get me!'. Jonathon had them before they could close the door on the stolen van they were using." His look became more serious. "According to my source, the plot was to use Danielle to get to Alexander through his brother in a complex plan to assassinate the President while blaming it all on the Wells-Chandlers. They had apparently planned to implicate Karen as well and drag you down through her."

Scott thought a moment. "Is this going to cause problems for Alexander?"

Stephen shook his head. "I don't think so. Alexander's family is too well protected due to this link thing, whatever it is, that they seem to have with each other. I just thought I should give you a heads up about it, especially since you're practically a member of the family through Karen. If it does become a problem we'll just pull Alexander from his current assignment and find another place for him. He is far too valuable an asset to lose."

Later that evening Scott got a call from Alexander to talk to him about the attempted kidnapping of Danielle and trying to assure Scott that he would not let it compromise his job. It turned out that Alexander had also called their supervisor to report about it and been told not to worry about it. The next day the NY police department released the details of the terrorist plot to the news and it was plastered all over every station and news source. The terrorists were suddenly scurrying for cover because of all the negative publicity.

~ x x x x x ~

The very next week Jonathon and Danielle came down to DC for a quick visit during spring break. The day after they arrived, Alexander reveled to Scott that they had just found out that Alexandra was pregnant. The next day the rest of Scott's team threw an impromptu party at the local hangout for Alexander. It actually was more of a good natured hazing party where they all took turns teasing him about the horrors of parenthood. Jonathon even showed up in order to offer his own brand of brotherly ribbing.

Around the middle of the week Danielle's grandparents held a small baby shower party for Alexandra to celebrate the good news and indulge in a healthy dose of 'girl talk' about the impending event. There was a good deal of discussion and stories about the fun and inconveniences of being pregnant.

That weekend, on the same day that Jonathon and Danielle headed back to New York, Scott and Alexander had to go to California with the President on a political excursion.

On board Air Force One Scott and Alexander were again in with the First Family talking about Alexander's good news. As before, their daughter spent most of the time gazing at Alexander and hanging onto every word.

At one point President Carlton was teasing Alexander about his daughter's obsession. "You know, Alexander, I'm very annoyed at you." He spoke teasingly as he glanced at his daughter. "You've replaced both Batman and myself as Sandra's number one hero."

His daughter blushed deep red. "Awe Daddy!" She ducked her head hiding her face.

President Carlton placed his hand affectionately on his daughter's back as he chuckled.

First Lady Helen Carlton finally gave voice to her own curiosity. "I hope I'm not being too indelicate or intrusive, but I am kind of curious about how the bond you two have will be affect by this."

Alexander shook his head. "I don't mind, ma'am." He shrugged. "Our bond means that I will be feeling everything that Alexandra feels."

Jerry Carlton's eyes opened wide. "Everything!"

Scott was also looking at Alexander with surprise and uncertainty.

Alexander nodded. "Pretty much." He grinned. "Oh, I can suppress the link to some extent, push her emotions to the background but I can't shut it off completely and any really strong emotion will blast right through the barrier." He gave a little chuckle. "Dad told me that during the delivery it felt like everything that was happening to Mom was also happening to him." Again he shrugged and looked right at Scott with a half grin. "And if you tell the rest of the team about that, I may just have to use you to sharpen my claws."

Scott laughed holding out his hands in surrender. "Don't worry, I won't tell a soul." Then his grin took on a mischievous glint. "But that doesn't mean I won't tease you about it myself."

_**Continued in Part 13**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


	13. Life Love and Change

**The Agent**_  
><em>(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)_  
>By Thomas Mc<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: <strong>Life, Love and Change<strong>  
><strong>

**_Author's Note_**_: This was originally going to be a short epilogue that ended with the wedding but a suggestion in the reviews from Saissa gave me an idea and I decided to run with it, which expanded this into a full length chapter. ~ To Saissa ~ I hope you like what I did with your idea._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**April**

Scott was having dinner with Karen over at her apartment. The current topic of conversation was the latest internet craze, the Dan and Leo debates. The public had just recently become aware of them and whenever they occurred the media was right on top of it reporting and analyzing them. Scott also had become a hard core fan of the Dan and Leo debates. He had been flabbergasted when Karen had confided that Leo was actually her other brother Jonathan who was currently attending college in New York.

They were about halfway through diner while discussing one of the finer points of one of the debates when they were interrupted by the phone. It turned out to be from Alexander and Alexandra announcing that they had just learned that Alexandra was carrying twins. This news was immediately followed by a lot of excited babble between the two girls and heartfelt congratulations from Scott slipped in edgewise through the girl's comments.

After hanging up, the news of the twins became the primary topic of conversation through the rest of their diner.

~ x x x x x ~

**May**

Secret Service Agent Scott Myers had never been this nervous even during his most harrowing adventures on the job. He adjusted his tie and cleared his throat as he looked again across the table at Karen. He had brought her to one of the better restaurants in the DC area for a romantic late lunch then he had tickets reserved for the matinee showing of latest romantic comedy play. He couldn't afford the price of the regular show time and most of his last few paychecks had gone for the object he now held in his hand.

Just below the table he was holding a small box. He had intended to bring the box out after the play but he was anxious to get it over with before he lost his nerve. He looked down at the empty desert plates. He was a tough Secret Service agent, damn it, why was this so difficult? Finally he took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "Karen, I, ah . . . I . . ." He felt his nerve failing and glanced up at her face. The warm expectant look in her eyes gave him courage and he started again. "Karen . . . I, I know I'm not a very , ah, articulate person, not like most of your family, so, ah, the only way I know how to do this is just come right out and say it." There was a pause as he glanced down then looked back up into her eyes. "Uh, will you marry me?" He brought out the little box and laid it on the table without taking his eyes from hers.

Karen gazed back into his eyes for a moment then blinked. A small smile slowly spread across her face. "Yes, Scott, I'll marry you." Her smile spread and became bigger. "Hell yea, I'll marry you!"

Scott grinned back. "Wow . . . yea . . . wow." He felt tongue-tied and didn't quite know what to say. And he just couldn't stop grinning like a fool.

Karen glanced down at his hands. "Are you planning to do anything with that?"

He glanced down in surprise at the small box. "Oh, yea . . ." He opened up the box and held it out to her, "Uh, this is for you." The world seemed to snap back into focus as she reached out to take the open box. She quickly lifted the ring out of the box and handed it back to him then she flipped her hand over holding it out toward him waiting. Scott gently slipped the ring onto her finger and then brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it. Then they both leaned toward each other and their lips met.

After they broke from their kiss Karen looked down at the modest engagement ring then looked back up into his eyes smiling. "Scott it's beautiful." She reached over and touched his jaw line. "And I happen to love you exactly the way you are." She leaned in and again they kissed.

They were interrupted by the waiter clearing his throat. When they looked up at him he spoke. "Will there be anything else, sir."

Karen looked down at her ring and murmured. "I already have everything I need."

Scot shook his head. "No, just the check." The waiter handed Scott the check. Scott glanced at it then handed it back to the waiter with his card.

Ten minutes later, after a quick discussion, they were headed off to the play. As soon as they reached their seats Karen lifted the armrest between them and snuggled up next to Scott. He noticed that she spent almost as much time looking at the modest new ring as she did watching the play.

After the play they went over to the Washington Mall and walked along the reflecting pool in silence. They stopped by the Lincoln memorial and sat on the steps looking out over the reflecting pool. Scott gazed at Karen for a moment then asked. "So, ah, when do you want to do it?"

Karen gave him a mischievous look. "Why Mister Myers, how very forward of you." She lowered her chin and looked seductively up at him. "Shouldn't we wait until the honeymoon?"

Scott sputtered, turning all kinds of shades of red. "Uh, no, no that's not . . ."

She slid up against him her eyes sparkling with a combination of mischief and smoldering desire. "How about anytime you're in the mood." At that point Scott lost it and could just sit there, mouth working in a vain attempt to regain his composure. Then she relented and spoke again. "I don't want to wait too long but we need time to plan it. How about in one or two months, saaayyy the middle of July?"

Scott quickly pulled himself together and agreed that the middle of July sounded fine. They spent the rest of the early evening walking along the Washington Mall talking about the future and making plans. They ended up getting a 'romantic' dinner from a hotdog vender and laughed at themselves over it. They finally ended up back sitting on the steps of the Lincoln memorial late in the evening. Karen wanted to call her parent's right away and give them the good news. Scott sat back and watched her face as she pulled out her phone and initiated the call.

"Hello, mom, it's Karen." . . .

"Mom, I have some big news to tell you." . . .

"Scott and I are engaged." . . .

Her face took on a confused then worried look. "Mom? . . . Mom, are you there? . . . Mom?" . . .

She glanced at Scott, still looking confused. "Dad? . . . I . . . ah, I was just telling mom that Scott and I are engaged." . . .

"Is mom OK? . . . Dad?" She stared at the phone with the strangest look on her face.

"Mom, is that Dad? What's going on?" . . .

Her face showed surprise and dawning comprehension. "You're kidding. I don't believe it. That is so unreal." . . .

"I know. This is so wild. Scott asked me today at lunch. This is the first chance I've had to call you." . . .

"Oh, yes, we decided to try to have it around the middle of July when President Carlton doesn't have any events planned so Scott can get the time off. We hope to send out the invitations next week after we have made sure we can get the necessary reservations. You can come, can't you." . . .

"Great! I have to go and call several others but I'll call you later." . . .

"Love you Mom. Bye." . . .

She slowly put away her phone then stared at Scott for a moment before breaking into wild peals of laughter. The look of confusion on Scott's face only caused her laughter to redouble. After a few minutes she calmed down and enough to talk. "I'm afraid we nearly gave Mom and Dad a heart attack just now." Scott's eyebrows climbed nearly to his hairline as he looked inquiringly back at her. "It seems that Jonathon and Danielle just got engaged today also."

The look on Scott's face changed to one of surprise. Then he finally began laughing and she joined in with him. Several passersby glanced at the laughing couple curiously as they continued on their anonymous way.

~ x x x x x ~

**July**

For Scott the last six weeks flew by in a whirl of political trips, stolen moments of bliss with Karen and hectic planning for his wedding. Fortunately there were no new attempts on the President's life during that time. The war on terror was progressing well and the various terrorist factions were running scared as their leaders seemed to be too busy scrambling for any kind of safety to be hatching any new plots.

Scott and Karen had asked Alexander and Alexandra to be their Best Man and Maid (Matron) of Honor. Alexandra was well into her second trimester and it showed but she was still happy to accept the offer.

Scott, Karen, Alexander and Alexandra were all there to meet Karen's family as they got off the plane from New York. Greetings and tears and hugs were exchanged all around. Then they all piled into the several vehicles and headed off to a popular DC restaurant where Alexander had made reservations for dinner. They all had a wonderful time talking, laughing, telling humorous family stories and exchanging family gossip.

After the meal there was a quick round of musical cars as they all selected vehicles according to which home each of them would be staying at while they were in town for the wedding.

Early the next day they all gathered at the church for the wedding rehearsal, which went smoothly, then it was off to lunch at a very upscale restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. The afternoon and evening was mostly spent seeing the sights around Washington DC.

~ x x x x x ~

Scott stood at the front of the small chapel looking around. The place was bedecked with enough flowers to fill an Arboretum. First Lady Helen Carlton had been responsible for that. The front third of the seating was taken up by Scott's family and Karen's family. Directly behind them sat the First Family as well as the head of the Secret Service and Scott's supervisor. The back half of the chapel was taken up mostly by every Presidential Security agent that was able to make it.

Alexander tapped Scott on the shoulder and reminded him that it was time to start. Scott's parents followed by Karen's mother came down the aisle as Scott and Alexander retreated to the small side alcove to join the preacher who then gave them a few last minute instructions. The music of a very old wedding song began to fill the chapel.

**_He is now to be among you  
>At the calling of your hearts.<br>Rest assured this troubadour  
>Is acting on his part . . .<em>**

Scott pulled his mind away from the words of the song and prepared himself for what was to come. The final stanzas of the song ended with the words "**_There is love_**" echoed around the chapel and faded away.

The preacher, followed by Scott and Alexander stepped out and stopped in front of the simple, flower covered, alter. There was a moment of silence broken only by the rustle of movement among the guests. Then the double doors at the back of the chapel opened and everyone turned to face the back.

The strains of the traditional wedding march started up. Alexandra stepped out first, a happy smile on her face as she glanced at Alexander and Scott then she looked straight at the priest as she started down the aisle.

Seconds later a huge smile spread across Scott's face as Karen stepped through the doorway her arm hooked through William's elbow. His eyes locked onto her like a targeting laser and they glowed just as intently.

Alexandra arrived and took her place. Then Karen and William arrived stopping just short of where Scott stood. Scott felt himself pulled toward her like a magnet and it took a physical act of will for him to hold his ground.

The priest spoke his line clearly to the room. "Who gives this woman to be joined to this man?"

William spoke in proud ringing tones. "Her mother and I do, whole heartedly and with our blessing." Then he took a step forward and with his free hand removed Karen's hand from his elbow and placed it into Scott's outstretched hand. His happy task completed, William backed away and moved to the empty seat beside Patricia where he put his arm around her giving her a hug and handing her his handkerchief. He smiled at her as she dabbed at her eyes.

The wedding party turned as one and faced the priest. The priest gave a short speech outlining the requirements and responsibilities involved in a proper marriage then he made the standard call for anyone who objected to this marriage to speak now or forever hold their peace. After a moment's pause he moved immediately to the traditional wedding vows. Then Scott and Karen pledged their love to each other as they exchanged rings. Then he introduced the new husband and wife to everyone that had come to witness this event.

As they left the Chapel the guests followed the bride and groom to the adjacent fellowship hall for the reception. All the normal traditions were observed. The reception line, the cutting of the cake the toasts to the bride and groom, the first dance, and the posing for all the pictures taken by the wedding photographers.

Later when the bride and groom left the reception to begin their honeymoon they passed between two lines of Secret Service agents standing at honor guard attention between the building and the waiting limousine. It was Alexander who was acting as chauffer when the limo pulled away. Scott knew that he could count on him to see them safely and quietly to their first night's destination.

Standing next William and Patricia, President Carlton tightened his arm around his wife as he remarked to those around him. "I feel almost as though I were seeing off one of my own children rather than just another of my guardian agents.

~ x x x x x ~

**October**

It was the first week in October and they were boarding Air Force One with the President and his family. Soon they would be on their way to Australia. Ten year old Jack Carlton, their oldest son was holding his father's hand. Seven year old Sandra Carlton, their daughter, was holding the nanny's hand and, as usual, glancing over her shoulder at Alexander in frank hero worship.

Scott glanced at First Lady Helen who was carrying their dozing fourteen month old son. Scott smiled at the image remembering the massive confusion on the day he had been born. Shortly after Alex n Alex had finally left on their honeymoon the President's press secretary had been bombarded by requests from the press about the newborn. That was when it had been discovered that nobody seemed to know the baby's name. The press secretary had burst into the room asking for the baby's name only to be met with blank stares by the President and his family. After a few moments of dead silence Helen had whispered something to her husband. He smiled at her and nodded then proudly announced. His name is Alexander Scott Carlson. Scott had been surprised and honored at this startling revelation. William, who was still in the room, had also been very surprised and pleased by it.

Scott glanced over at Alexander and noticed that he looked a bit distracted and began to worry. Was there a dangerous situation developing? Alexander became aware of Scott's scrutiny and looked back at him, gave a barely perceptible nod and half smile. Scott nodded back. Alexander's nod meant that there was no immediate danger so Scot figured that the most likely cause must be Alexandra. For the last few months Alexander had been displaying the classic symptoms of a typical father to be.

Soon everyone was settled aboard and Air Force One was well on its way. As had become common on these trips, Scott and Alexander had been afforded the normally rare honor of being allowed to sit in the private section of the aircraft with the First Family. President Carlton was sitting at his desk in the small office working on some official document of some kind. Young Jack was in the lounge watching an adventure movie while First Lady Helen was sitting on the floor playing with little Alex. Sandra had managed to talk Alexander and the nanny into some type of card game. Scott had settled into a corner seat and began reading a new book that Karen had recommended.

Several hours into the flight Scott looked up from his book thinking something wasn't quite right. He glanced around. Little Alex was napping and the nanny was sitting next to him reading a book. President Carlton was still in his office apparently on the phone to someone. Jack was playing some kind of video game while munching on a sandwich. Helen was dozing off with a book laying open on her lap.

Finally his gaze settle on Sandra kneeling and looking worriedly at Alexander as she quietly called his name. His attention immediately snapped to Alexander. His face was screwed up with extreme concentration and he was gripping the armrests so tightly that his claws had punctured the upholstery and he appeared to be panting.

Scott shot out of his seat nearly leaping the few yards to where Sandra knelt and called out. "Alexander, what's wrong?"

For a few seconds Alexander seemed totally oblivious as Scott knelt right next to Sandra. Then he seemed to relax, though the tension did not leave his face, and looked directly at Scott and Sandra. "It's Alexandra. She's gone into labor."

Scott looked confused. "I thought she wasn't due for another three or four weeks."

Alexander shook his head. "She isn't but it's happening right now and it's progressing a lot faster than we were told."

Helen called out from directly behind Scott, startling him. "Jerry, Alexandra's having her baby right now."

President Carlton came charging out of the little office. "Now? But it's too soon." Then he glanced from his wife's face to Alexander's face and charged back into the office.

Scott looked back at Alexander as he heard a faint groan, or maybe it was a growl, escape from him as he again tensed up. Scott glanced up at the first Lady. "I think he's feeling her contractions. Karen told me that at this time their bond becomes as strong as when they, ah . . ." His voice trailed off as his eyes drifted to Sandra. "Well anyway it's very strong."

He saw a flicker of a smile cross the First Lady's face. Then she called out toward the back office. "Jerry, the contractions are coming awfully close together. It's going to happen any time now."

President Carlton called out from the office. "I've got the hospital on the line. Karen brought Alexandra in a couple of hours ago and she is in the delivery room with her now." He paused then spoke to the phone he was holding. "That's what I said. Do it now." He listened for a minute then spoke again. "Great! Now what do I have to do at this end?" He listened some more and was typing something on his computer. After about a minute he smiled. "Got it!" He set down the phone the called out. "Scott, Helen, get Alexander in here, right now."

A very short time later, Alexander was sitting in President Carlton's office chair looking at Alexandra's face on the computer screen. The First Family was crowded just beyond the office doorway anxiously following this extraordinary event. They couldn't see the computer screen but they could see Alexander's face and hear what was happening.

Alexander was urging her to breath. Karen's voice could also be heard encouraging her. Alexander tensed up again as they heard the doctors voice call out. "Now push, push hard." The sound of a groan was heard from both Alexander and Alexandra at the same time. The doctor called out. "**I see the head.** We're almost there, now push Alexandra, push!"

Alexander tensed up and remarked through clenched teeth. "Come on, honey, you can do this." Then they heard Alexandra cry out followed by the doctor's triumphant voice. "**Got it!**" Then a second later a baby's cry was heard and Karen's exclamation. "Oh my, he's **beautiful**!"

Gasps and muted cheers came from those crowded at the doorway. The baby's cries died down as another female voice could be heard quietly reeling off some numbers then the doctor's voice interrupted. "We're not done yet. Here comes the other one. Push, Alexandra." Everyone went quiet. Alexander tensed up again as the voice of the doctor continued. "That's a girl . . . Here it comes . . . Here it comes. . . **got him**!" Another baby's cry was heard.

Then Karen's voice exclaimed. "Oh my, they look exactly alike."

The doctor's voice responded. "They're identical twin boys and they're both perfect."

The whole interior of the plane rang with cheers and laughter as hugs and tears expressed everyone's joy over the event. Scott looked down to see Sandra gazing intently into the office a soft smile on her face. He followed her gaze. They were the only two that saw the worn out Alexander, his eyes sparkling with immense happiness silently mouth the words "I love you" at the screen.

~ o ~

Ten minutes later everyone including the nanny was crowded around the computer screen babbling and laughing as they watched the newborn twins being held in their mother's arms and being tickled by their aunt Karen. Meanwhile Jerry Carlton and Scott were pounding a slightly stunned Alexander on the back and offering their hearty congratulations. Alexandra spoke softly to the twins. "Anthony and Henry, say hello to your father and your father's friends."

An hour later the main screen in the lounge was displaying the sleeping leonine infants in their hospital incubators. The twins had been three weeks premature but they were both healthy and showed no signs of ill effects from their early arrival. The incubators were just a normal precaution. The doctor had said that, barring unexpected complications, they could probably go home within the week. Sandra and Jack were totally engrossed in the image on the large screen. The First Lady was quietly amused watching her two oldest children as they commented on twins in question. Little Alex Scott was sound asleep and blissfully unaware of the excitement that had been going on around him as the nanny beside him watched the antics of the two older children. President Carlton was back in his office dealing with government business but he did glance occasionally through the doorway at the image on the main lounge screen.

Alexander was back in his seat, talking on the phone to other family members while gazing at the screen, a state of happy bliss apparently permanently plastered across his face. Scott was on the phone with Karen and she was currently informing him that William and Patricia would be flying down to DC that evening and Danielle's grandparents had just arrived to visit Alexandra and see the babies. While listening to Karen's descriptions of today's excitement from her perspective, Scott glanced around taking in the almost peaceful scene around him. He sighed. What a strange, incredibly magical family he had married into.

Scott was brought back to Karen's voice as her words began to penetrate. ". . . were already at the hospital because the doctor had the results of my test and . . . well, ah, Scott honey, how do you feel about becoming a father?"

**_The End_**

* * *

><p>'<strong>Beauty and the Beast'<strong> and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


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